On the Streets
by jilla kala
Summary: updated **Chapter Thirteen** a young prince has been stolen from his room, that was sixteen years ago, what happens when he is found?
1. chapter one

****

On the Streets

by jilla kala

a/n: I was watching Aladdin and the King of Thieves one day and I got the idea of one of Tamora Pierce's characters somehow ending up being on the streets… also I was thinking about why Roger didn't try to get rid of Jon earlier… I mean come on… why didn't he just get it _over_ with? So… yeah… I hope you like it and REVIEW please… I guess if u _must_ flame, go ahead… But I prefer "constructive criticism"…. now enjoy… 

Disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates and umm… that's it so far…

Chapter One

Juanee rolled out of bed with a thud. The sun wasn't even up yet. The small crack of a window in her room showed nothing but blackness. _It must be the middle of the night, _she thought to herself. But it was too late; she was awake and there was no going back to sleep now. Juanee untangled herself from the blankets and walked over to the box at the foot of the bed and pulled out a pair of black breeches and a torn white tunic. She quietly snuck out of the house and down the back alley to the Market Way. She realized that it wasn't so much the middle of the night as it was almost sunup. She could see just over the housetops a light orange hue to the sky.

As she walked down the empty Market Way she looked on the ground hoping to find a stray coin or bauble that she could sell for money. Within ten minutes merchants started coming in with their carts to set up for a day on the market. As she walked by a man putting up a stand selling cakes she realized just how hungry she was. She walked further trying to find the perfect place to thieve her breakfast from. While she passed by an elderly man setting up a fruit stand he dropped a bunch of mangos on the ground. She bent down and put her hand on two of them. The man smiled gratefully as she handed him a mango, "I think you dropped this, sir." As she walked off she bit into the other juicy mango she had hidden in her sleeve and thought to herself, _Well, that was easy._

By the time the sun was all the way up, the street was busy with merchants and customers getting an early start on their shopping. It was also already full of thieves. As she munched on the mango she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and bumped into a boy who was running in the opposite direction. The two fell to the ground. She looked up into his face and rolled over so she was looking down on him. "What's the rush boy?" She stood up and grabbed his hand, hauling him to his feet. Before he could answer two guards burst through the crowd shouting, "STOP THIEF!" 

Juanee looked at him, "Oh." Without letting go of his hand she took off at a run through the streets.

"I can run by myself you know," he hollered as they rounded a corner.

"Fine," Juanee dropped his hand, "just follow me." The two ran down another alley jumping a fence on the other end, the guards still behind them. Juanee turned a sharp right into a dark hole. The boy didn't see where she went until a strong hand grabbed his leg and hauled him in, too. He disappeared into the hollow just in time on account of the fact that the guards ran by a few seconds later, searching for the direction the two thieves took.

After a few minutes without the guards coming by again Juanee crawled out followed soon by the boy. "Come on," she said and the two went down the alley until they came to a large tree. Juanee grabbed a branch and swung up into the leaves. She reached down to give the boy a hand up but he swung up on his own. 

"I'm not as helpless as I look you know," he said. 

Juanee laughed. "Come on," she climbed higher followed closely by the boy. When she was about halfway up the tree she crawled out onto another branch and shouldered open a window. She clambered in and motioned for the boy to follow her. When he was inside she closed the window and walked into the center of the room. She knelt down and lifted up a board in the floor. She jumped down into the room below. The boy followed behind her. Juanee reached up and pulled the board back into place.

She turned and looked at the boy standing in her room, "You have to be more careful when thieving you know." 

The boy shrugged and took a loaf of bread out of the purse at his waist; he broke off a piece and offered it to her. Juanee shook her head.

"I'm careful, it's just sometimes even the best get caught."

"And I suppose you're the best?"

"I never said that, don't you go putting words in my mouth."

Juanee shook her head and walked over to the bed and took a seat. She didn't say anything. For the first time she studied the boy; he was wearing dark green, almost black, breeches and a dirty gray tunic, which looked to be about two sizes too big. One sleeve was ripped completely off and the other had a large hole in it. He had coal black hair, or what Juanee assumed was black under all the dirt, and bright sapphire blue eyes.

"What's your name boy?"

"Jonathan."

~*~

Once inside the building the girl he was with walked into the center of the room, well, attic was more like it really, and lifted a board up off the floor. She jumped down into the room below. Jon shrugged and followed her down. When she had moved the board back into place she turned to him, "You have to be more careful when thieving you know."

He lounged against the wall and shrugged, pulling the loaf of still warm bread he had swiped out of his purse. He offered her a piece but she didn't want any.

"I'm careful, it's just sometimes even the best get caught."

"And I suppose you're the best?" 

Jon didn't like her tone. "I never said that, don't you go putting words in my mouth," he snapped.

She sat down on the bed and watched him. She didn't say anything. After a few minutes Jon started to get uncomfortable and was just about to say something when she asked, "What's your name kid?" 

He almost sighed with relief. "Jonathan," he answered truthfully.

"Well, I'm Juanee," the girl said.

"Juan_ what?"

The girl laughed, "Juanee."

"I can't pronounce that."

"Jua then."

"Well, if I'm going to call you by a nickname you can just call me Jon."

"Deal then, Jon," she said, "Now, you look like you might be hungry. Do you want something to eat?"

Jon nodded. He was starving.

~*~

Juanee took Jon downstairs and into the little kitchen. Already two other people were down there. Juanee nodded to her friends and walked over to the one cupboard they had. She pulled out two cracked clay bowls and some fruit. She cut the mangos and bananas into little pieces and put them in the bowls. Then she got out some bread and broke off a chunk for each of them. Juanee walked over to the corner where her friends were sitting and picked the pitcher of milk up from between the two.

"Jua! Come on, that was ours!" the boy, Tilton complained.

"Yeah, you didn't milk the neighbor's goat, we did!" Shiloh whined.

Juanee laughed. "I have company you two, so be nice." She quickly introduced Jon to Tilton and Shiloh.

"Do you want milk Jon?" she asked.

"Sure."

Jua poured some of the still warm goat's milk onto the bowls of fruit and into two glasses she had just gotten. "There you go."

He ate quickly. Watching him eat the food she thought to herself, _Poor kid; hasn't had a decent meal in a long time. "_When was the last time you had something to eat?" she asked him.

"Other then the bread I had this morning… about two days, I think."

"Two days!" Jua wasn't really that shocked; he looked like he hadn't eaten for at least that long. "You know you have to eat more if you want to stay healthy."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, calm down. Sheesh, what are you? My mum?"

"No. And speaking of your mum, where are your folks?"

"Don't got none. They died a long time ago." He said in between bites.

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You didn't kill them did you? No. So you have nothing to be sorry about."

"How old are you?"

Jon paused for a minute as if trying to decide if he should lie or tell the truth. "Fifteen."

"You're not lying to me are you Jon?"

"I thought about it, but I didn't. I honestly have no reason to tell you anything else."

"You're all right, kid."

"If you don't mind my asking, but, how old are you?"

"Why?"

"'Cause you keep calling me 'kid', so I was wondering how much older then me you were."

"Oh, ok. I'm seventeen. So that's two years older than you."

"I can count you know."

"I figured as much."

Jon nodded and drank down the goat's milk in his cup.

"Thanks for feeding me. But, well, I should probably be on my way. I'll come by sometime and pay you back for the food."

"Nonsense, you don't owe me a thing. Listen, where do you live?"

"Wherever I can find a place. At the moment I'm in a tree down by the temples."

"Do you have a partner?"

"No. I thieve alone. Always have."

Jua thought for a moment. "I don't have one either, and we have a spare room here. Plus, believe me, trees are no good when winter comes. So, if you want, you can stay here and work with me."

~*~

Jon was shocked. No one had ever offered him a place to stay before. He wasn't real sure how a partner would work out in the long term but he thought, _I can always leave come spring, it'll be nice not to freeze when the snow comes._

"Alright. I'll be your partner."

She smiled at him. "Do you have somethings you need to go and get, or do you carry all your personal property in your purse?"

"I'll need to go and get somethings."

Jua stood up, "Ok then, let's go get 'em."

The two got up and walked out of the house leaving their bowls and cups on the floor for the many stray cats to come and clean up.

As they walked towards the temple area neither of them said anything. Jon was grateful for that. He wasn't sure what he should say. She was his new partner, should he thank her or not mention it all? He wondered if he had made the right choice in saying yes.

When they got to the tree he lived in he told Jua to wait at the bottom and he swung up into it. All he really had to do was grab the bag that was stuffed into an indentation in the trunk. He checked to make sure nothing had fallen out and jumped out of the tree onto the ground below.

"Got all your stuff?" Jua asked.

"Yeah," Jon said and held up the bag. The two then turned and walked towards the house.

When they got back Jua led him back up the flight of stairs. But instead of turning left at the top into Jua's room they turned right into an empty room. "This is where you'll live," Jua told him, "You can unpack your things while I go and get a bath ready for you, ok?" 

Jon nodded, "Thanks."

"No problem. Hey, do you have some clean clothes that you can change into after? Or do you need me to grab you something?"

Jon looked at the torn tunic he was wearing and blushed, "Could you grab something? If it's not a problem, 'cause all my tunics look like this."

Jua laughed, "Of course I can kid, I wouldn't 'ave offered if I couldn't."

After she left Jon just stood there. Looking around his room. "My room," he said quietly. It felt funny on his tongue. He had never had his own room before, actually, he had never really had anything that was his own before. "My room," he said again, a little louder this time, "My room!" he said loudly. He had a big grin on his face as he set to work unpacking.

a/n: hey everyone, i hope you like it, i know, Jon is _very_ OOC, but if he actually lived on the streets he wouldn't be the same as in SOTL being as he hasn't grown up as the spoiled crown prince we all know and "love" but as an orphan thief, so being OOC is not an excuse to flame ok? Ok. Hope you all liked that. And review. Oh, by the way, all our favorite characters _will_ show up at some point… 


	2. chapter two

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On the Streets

by jilla kala

a/n: ok… here's chapter two… Not much to say but… enjoy and please review, thanx…

Disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates and umm… that's it so far…

Chapter Two

When the bath was drawn Juanee went and knocked on the door to Jon's room. He answered the door with a big smile on his face. She grinned back, "You can go clean up in the room at the far end of the hall, I left some clean clothes in there on a crate for you, ok?" Jon nodded and walked down the hall towards the washroom. Jua turned and went back downstairs to pick up the bowls they had left for the cats earlier.

About twenty minutes later Jon walked into the kitchen. He was dressed in the tunic and breeches she had gotten for him. "The blue looks good on you kid," she told him. He smiled, "Thanks." She looked him over, now that he was clean he looked a lot better, _a little on the handsome side,_ she thought to herself with a laugh.

"Do you need a brush?" she asked out loud. 

"Huh?"

"Your hair. Do you need a brush for it?"

"Oh," he reached up and touched his tousled hair, "yeah, thanks."

"Ok, come on then." 

The two walked up to Juanee's room where she pulled a brush out of a drawer in the dingy old desk by the wall. "Sit." Jon obediently sat down on the bed. Jua went and knelt behind him and started to run the brush through his hair. Or she tried to at least. "Mithros! When was the last time you brushed your hair? Its all tangles!" 

"Umm… my brush got lost someplace… so it's probably been like a month since OUCH it's been brushed with anything OWW besides my fingers."

"Sorry if I'm hurting you, I'll try to be more careful. Are you serious? A month?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you just steal another one?"

"There aren't many brushes just lying around in the desert you know."

"The desert?"

"Yeah."

"Why were you in the desert?"

"I was coming from Persopolis."

"Persopolis?"

"Yeah, I'd been living there for about two months, I think, and I decided it was time to move on. So I packed up my stuff and went to Port Caynn and I stayed there for about a week, cause I was really sick, I don't really remember it much. But anyway, after I left Port Caynn I came here."

"You didn't walk did you?"

"No. I walked about halfway to Port Caynn but then I stole a horse. I rode the horse till I was just a few days ride from Port Caynn and I got really sick and passed out. Someone found me by the side of the rode and nursed me back. They gave me another horse so I could get back to Corus to where my parents were," He grinned, "People will fall for anything."

Jua laughed. "So I was right, you aren't actually from Corus?"

"No. Never been here before. How'd you know?"

"Well, you have a bit of an accent plus, if you were from Corus I'd 'ave seen you around before today."

"Oh. What kind of an accent do I have?"

"I don't really know, maybe something from the Islands?"

"I've never been out of Tortall."

"Oh." She finished brushing his hair in silence.

~*~

By the time Jua finished brushing his hair it was time for lunch and the smell of food cooking was wafting up through the floorboards. She put the brush away and the two walked downstairs. Jon decided he liked this place, even if it was only going to be temporary.

"What's for lunch?" Jua inquired of the girl standing in the kitchen.

"Eggs. I got 'em from the man with the chickens by the man with the bees," Shiloh answered. She was standing in the kitchen holding a wrought iron pan with fried eggs in it out for them to inspect.

"Beautiful," Jua said as she grabbed some mismatched plates out of the cupboard. Jon helped by putting an egg on each of the seven plates as others filed into the kitchen. As they came in Jua gave Jon each of their names; "That's Zack," she said as a man with dirty blonde hair came in. Jon handed him a plate.

"And that there is Leech," she said as a brunette boy came into the room, "He doesn't live here, he just hangs out here and we can't get rid of him, he's like a leech. Hence the name."

Jua pointed at the man coming in just then; "You've already met Tilton." Jon passed him a plate; it was received with a friendly smile.

A girl walked in with long red hair tied up in a knot at the back of her head, "And that's Laura."

When everyone had a plate they sat down in a circle propped up on pillows. Jon wondered why they didn't have furniture, "but then again," he thought, "none of the places you've ever lived did either."

He was broken out of his thoughts by Jua nudging him in the ribs. "What?" he asked.

"I said, 'you look good, if I didn't know better I'd say you were a noble,'" Shiloh said.

"Oh, thanks." The group laughed and went back to their eating. He didn't know why, but when Shiloh had said he looked like a noble he got a weird sensation in his stomach, and he wasn't hungry afterwards.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Basically everyone just lounged around and talked all day. When it got dark they had some dinner, more eggs and some bread. After dinner Tilton and Laura went out to a bar and Leech left to go to wherever it was he called home.

Sometime around midnight Jon decided it was time to go to bed. He said goodnight to everyone and went upstairs. The others, Jua included, stayed downstairs talking and laughing about nothing yet something at the same time.

__

It was dark and cold. He didn't know where he was. Suddenly he heard a woman's voice, "Come. Come. Come to me." He walked in the direction of the voice, his arms outstretched to keep him from running into anything.

"Come. Come. Come to me." He walked for what seemed like hours. The more he walked the warmer it became.

"Come. Come. Come to me." The voice was more urgent this time. He tried to reply and tell the girl, the voice, that he was coming, but his own voice wouldn't work.

"Come! Come! Come to me!" the girl's voice was getting louder and much more urgent now. He put his arms down and started to run blindly in the direction of the voice. He had the feeling that if he didn't hurry something horrible would happen.

"COME! COME! COME TO ME!" the voice was now a loud shout that hurt his ears. It was now very hot.

"COME! COME! COME TO…" the voice was cut off with a strangled gasp. He stopped short and listened. Everything was silent. Then, softly at first but louder as time went on, he heard a man start laughing, an evil sound, and he knew he was too late.

Jon woke up with a yell as a cold hand gripped his arm.

~*~

Jua had been asleep for only ten minutes when she was awoken by a yell coming from the room next door. She jumped out of bed while at the same time grabbing her dagger from under her pillow. She ran quickly and quietly over to the door joining her room to Jon's and pushed it open.

Jon was sitting up in his bed, his eyes were fearful and his face was pale. He was covered in sweat. "Jon?"

He looked at her; he appeared bewildered for a moment then, as if realizing who it was, smiled weakly.

"You ok, Jon?"

"Y-y-yeah."

"What happened?"

"I just had a dream is all."

"Oh," she tucked the dagger into her pocket, "You gonna be ok now?"

"Yeah, sorry if I woke you up."

"That's ok, now go back to sleep, it's almost morning." And it was, outside the little window she could see a streak of yellow where the sun would be coming up in a while. "Goodnight, kid," she said as she smoothed the blankets over the shivering form in the bed. She went back to her room for a couple hours of sleep before she had to get up in the morning.

a/n: well, that was chapter two… hope you all enjoyed it… sorry that the story is going kinda slow right now but it will get better… one of Tammy's characters comes into the next chapter… maybe even two… also, we find a _little, _more about Jon's past… well… REVIEW please… thanx


	3. chapter three

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On the Streets

by jilla kala

a/n: ok, here's chapter three, this one brings in a couple of Tammy's characters that we all know and love… this chapter also tells us a little bit about Jon's past, key word being "little". Well, review and, as always, enjoy…. Don't worry everyone… the plot is coming… It will just take a little bit more…

also for those of you who were wondering how to post a fic: log in, then click on UPLOAD, then go down to the bottom of the page to where it says category and pick your category (ie: BOOKS), down where you clicked on your category click on your subcategory (ie: TAMORA PIERCE) then pick your genre and "secondary genre" then your language, then type in your title, then your rating, then type in your little couple sentence summary, then click browse, find your saved file on your computer and click upload, if you want more then one chapter go to EDIT/UPLOAD CHAPTERS after uploading the first chapter and go to upload chapter… ( I don't know how detailed you needed the instructions… so I made it *hopefully* as easy to understand as possible… just in case)

Disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates, Mr. Fishes and umm… that's it so far…

Chapter Three

The next morning no one mentioned his nightmare. For this Jon was grateful. He felt foolish and weak for screaming over a silly dream. He wondered what it meant, but right then was not the time to ponder the meaning of his bad dream. He and Jua were trying to find some place to thieve some breakfast from before heading off to meet a friend of hers.

"There is a man just down here that sells fish. Do you like fish? I do. These fish are the best fish. It's also easy to take the fish from him without him knowing it. He's half-blind you see so as long as we don't make sudden moveme…"

Jon clamped a hand over Jua's mouth, "Jua, as much as I love to hear you talk… shut up."

Jua laughed when he removed his hand, "Sorry, I get like this sometimes if I was up late the night before."

"That's alright. And yes, I like fish. So lets go see this Mr. Fishes."

"Mr. Fishes?"

"Yes. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, I love it!" Jua said with a laugh.

"Mithros, I can smell it all the way down here."

"That's 'cause he's right down here, kid, two carts after this one."

"Makes sense."

When they reached him Jua told Jon to go distract him , because, although Mr. Fishes was practically blind, he could hear very well.

Jon walked up to the man while Jua sneaked behind him. "Excuse me, kind sir?"

The man looked in his direction, "'eh?"

"Did you happen to see a cat come this way? He is black and white with a little pink nose."

"No, I 'ave 'ot seen no cat. I be ha' blin' so I no be da man to as'."

Jua grabbed two fishes and gave him the thumbs up sign.

"thank you anyway."

Mr. Fishes smiled as Jon walked off.

Jua ran up to him and handed him a small fish. "This is for you."

"Why thank you."

They walked in silence while they ate their fish. Jon wondered where they were going. As if reading his mind Jua broke the silence, "We are going to visit a friend of mine, a proper thief, like us. If you are going to work with me you better meet him, he is kind of… well… in charge… so to speak."

"that wasn't at all vague."

His only answer was a grin and laughs.

~*~

The Dancing Dove was a rowdy little inn where the thieves and prostitutes of Corus liked to hang out. Jua walked in without hesitation, she came there often. She looked around the room, "Come on Jon, His Majesty isn't down here, he must be up in his room, we'll go surprise him."

"His Majesty? Who are we seeing?" 

"You'll see."

They walked up a flight of stairs to a large wooden door. _I hope he's not busy_, Jua thought to herself, as she opened the door. She looked inside; a man was standing near the bed in the middle of the room. Jua put her finger to her lips to signal for Jon to be quiet and she ran and pounced, knocking the man backward onto the bed. He let out a cry of surprise as she landed on his chest. "Hey Hon," Jua said as she bit the end of his crooked nose playfully, "Miss me?"

The man glared up at her trying to look stern, "If I hadn't realized it was you, I could have killed you." He had barely finished his sentence before his face cracked into a smile.

"No you couldn't," she told him with a smirk. He laughed as she climbed off of his chest, "Jon, come here," she said.

Jon walked over to where the two were sitting.

"I'd like you to meet my friend, George Cooper, the King of Thieves."

~*~

The man, George Cooper, smiled as he shook Jon's hand. Jon looked him over, he seemed to be about Jua's age, and he appeared to be very friendly. Jon grinned back.

"See George, you aren't the only one who can pick up stray thieves," Jua told him.

"I can see that, so how'd you two find each other?"

~*~

George watched the boy's face as Jua told him the story. There was something oddly familiar about him that he could not place. Suddenly he realized Jua had stopped talking, he nodded to show he had been paying attention to her before turning to Jon, "Do you have the Gift?"

"Why?"

"Well, I have the Sight, and normally I can sense whenever someone new comes in, unless they have the gift, but I didn't sense you…"

"Oh, in that case, yeah, I have the gift."

"Do you know how to use it?" Jua asked.

"Sort of," a bright blue flame of magic appeared in Jon's open palm, "I've been taught a little now and then, from some Doi women and a Bazhir shaman, but I've never had any proper training." He closed his hand and the light went out.

"The Gift can be very useful to a thief, I'll see if I can find someone to show you how to use it properly," George offered.

"Thank you, that would be great."

~*~

"So how do you know him?" Jon asked Jua as they walked through the market looking for something to steal, which, naturally, could be of some use to them.

Jua grabbed the purse of someone walking by before she answered; quietly she said, "He saved my life."

She didn't say anything more on the subject and Jon didn't press her, he had the feeling she would tell him if she ever wanted to.

~*~

They stayed out for the rest of the day, thieving purses and goods from passersby. When the sun went down they went back to the house and split the day's takings equally, Jua took half of the money and half of the goods and Jon took the other half. All in all it was a very good day. Jua had gotten more with Jon than she had ever gotten with anyone else, well, except for George.

~*~

__

It was dark and cold. He didn't know where he was. Suddenly he heard a woman's voice, "Come. Come. Come to me." He walked in the direction of the voice, his arms outstretched to keep him from running into anything.

"Come. Come. Come to me." He walked for what seemed like hours. The more he walked the warmer it became.

"Come. Come. Come to me." The voice was more urgent this time. He tried to reply and tell the girl, the voice, that he was coming, but his own voice wouldn't work.

"Come! Come! Come to me!" the girl was getting louder and much more urgent now. He put his arms down and started to run blindly in the direction of the voice. He had the feeling that if he didn't hurry something horrible would happen.

"COME! COME! COME TO ME!" the voice was now a loud shout that hurt his ears. It was now very hot.

"COME! COME! COME TO…" the voice was cut off with a strangled gasp. He stopped short and listened. Everything was silent. Then, softly at first but louder as time went on, he heard a man start laughing, an evil sound, and he knew he was too late. A cold hand gripped his arm. It squeezed tighter and tighter; its long nails scratching his arm. He felt blood trickle down his forearm. Then a voice whispered in his ear, "I'll get you…"

Jon woke up. He didn't scream this time, for which he was thankful, but he knew he couldn't go back to sleep. He got out of bed and opened his pack; he pulled on one of his old tunics and a pair of dirty, torn breeches. He went downstairs and out the door into the cold, dark night.

As he walked through the dark streets, the only sound was his feet on the cobblestone. It was a lonely, hollow sound; and it made him think about his dead parents. Mythros, he missed them. He thought about the times that he spent with them in the islands when he was young, as he walked. His eyes filled with tears but he brushed them away defiantly, "I will not cry," he told himself fiercely. 

He wandered through the streets trying not to cry; he wasn't real sure where he was going. He passed the Dancing Dove and ended up at a garden and sat down on a bench and eventually fell asleep.

He woke up a couple of hours later with a stiff neck. He decided he should probably go back to the house before everyone else got up. As he was walking through the deserted streets he was distracted with thoughts of his parents and wasn't watching where he was going and bumped into someone who was walking in the opposite direction. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. The stranger, a boy of about twelve with red hair and violet eyes, looked at him, "It's alright," and continued down the road in the direction Jon had come from.

a/n: sorry this chapter ended so weird and didn't get as much into the plot as I wanted it too, but I had some trouble with part of it so I ended it here and will fix the rest for the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to review! Also, if you have any suggestions please email them to me at insane_fairy_chica@hotmail.com thanx


	4. chapter four

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On the Streets

by jilla kala

a/n: Thank you very much to all my lovely reviewers, also, sorry for not updating since like, the beginning of January… i've been kinda busy (new semester, new classes, procrastination, blah blah blah) plus i've had writer's block and we all know how much that sucks… i'm sorry this chapter is so short, but i needed to write something and i decided to only upload a small chapter now giving you a clue as to what the plot of this fic is going to be, i'll try and hurry up with the rest tho… 

Disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates, Mr. Fishes and umm… that's it so far…

Chapter Four (one year later)

Jon, Jua and George were sitting in the latter's chambers talking about all the latest court gossip, when there was a knock on the door. It opened to reveal a boy with short red hair and bright purple eyes.

"Oh, sorry George, I didn't know you had company," the boy said, "Hey Jua,"

"It's all right Alan, come on in and meet a friend of mine," George said motioning him in. The boy shrugged and walked in followed by two larger boys. George introduced the red head as Page Alan of Trebond, and the other two as Squires Raoul of Goldenlake and Gareth, Gary, of Naxen.

~*~

Gary watched George's friend, Jon, he thought it was, while the others talked. The boy looked familiar to him, but he didn't know where from. There was something about Jon's sapphire eyes that he recognized. Finally, he couldn't stand not knowing, and interrupting Alan he asked, "Do I know you from somewhere?"

Jon looked confused, "Umm, no… why?"

"You look familiar, are you sure I haven't met you before?"

"Yeah, positive."

"Oh," Gary motioned for Alan to continue, and tried to pay attention to the conversation going on around him.

"Just because it's His Majesty's birthday doesn't mean we have to have a ball," Alan whined.

"Alan, he's the king, of course there is going to be a ball," Jua sensibly put in.

"Still, I hate balls, and I don't think we should have to go," Alan replied.

"At least you don't have to give a toast!" Gary cried. Everyone except for Jon laughed.

"Gary's His Majesty's squire," Jua explained.

"Oh. Ok. I understand now," he said. Everyone laughed and the conversation moved on to other things.

~*~

Meanwhile, Roger of Conte, the heir to the Tortallian throne, sat in his chambers talking to his squire, Alex of Tirragen. Roger had placed a listening spell on the room, so to anyone listening in the hall, it would sound like they were having a pleasant conversation about everything ranging from the weather to the ball that night. In reality, they were discussing the changes that Roger would make when he was king, but of course, before Roger could be king, the present monarchs would have to die…

a/n: told ya it was short ::grins:: anyway, hope you all enjoyed it and I bet a lot of you have an idea where this is going… but shhhh…. It's a secret… lol… anyway, go ahead and email me at insane_fairy_chica@hotmail.com with comments, questions, ideas, anything, also, please be nice, wonderful people and review this for me… adios for now!


	5. chapter five

a/n: this chapter is dedicated to all the wonderful people who have reviewed, and it takes place a couple hours after the last chapter.

Disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates, Mr. Fishes and umm… that's it so far…

Chapter Five

Jon and Jua were seated on the floor of his room repairing some of his old clothes. They were working in silence, each thinking their own thoughts, when Jua jumped up saying excitedly, "I have the best idea!"

Jon looked up surprised. "What?"

"You know how we were all talking about the ball tonight, in honor of the kings birthday?"

"Yeah…"

"Why don't we go?"

"Go? We can't go Jua, we're commoners, and thieves at that."

"So? I know lot's of thieves who go to the royal balls, as long as you have some fancy clothes, and they aren't that hard to get, and you act like a noble, no one ever knows, I've done it before, George has, and he's wanted by the Provost, everyone does it," she said. Then putting on a puppy-dog face she knelt down in front of him, "please, pretty please?"

Jon had to laugh at her, "Alright, we can go."

"Whoo hoo!" Jua yelled as she gave him a big hug, almost knocking him over, "Now we need to get us some clothes…"

~*~

Meanwhile: Alan, Gary and Raoul were sitting in Gary's room trying to help him write his toast for the ball that night. So far, it wasn't going very good.

"I have no idea what to say!" Gary moaned for about the hundredth time that afternoon.

"Gary, you say that every year and you always end up with something good." Alan said, trying to comfort his friend.

"Two years! So many times!" Gary replied sarcastically.

"Gary, come on, he's just trying to help you know," voiced Raoul who had been quiet for most of the afternoon.

"Alright, I'm sorry Alan."

"It's alright Gary, I understand."

"Listen, why don't we take a break from this for awhile, we can talk about something else then go back to it, it might make it easier," Raoul suggested.

"Good idea. Hey, I have a question for you two; did you notice anything odd about that Jonathan boy? Did he remind you of anyone?" Gary asked.

"No, Gary. You're the only one who thinks he looks familiar. I've never seen him before in my life," Alan sighed, "And he's never seen you before either, we've been _over_ this already."

"I know, I know, but I never get this strong of a feeling of recognition about someone unless I _do_ know them from somewhere…"

"Gary, you're wrong this time, ok? You don't know him. There's nothing wrong with that," Raoul told him.

"Alright, let's just get back to this toast thing, ok?" Gary said. Then he added under his breath so the others couldn't hear him, "and I _do_ know him, I just don't know from where yet."

~*~

An hour later Jon and Jua had both gotten together clothes to wear to the ball that night. Jua had found a black dress, with a string of white pearls wrapped around the waist, in her closet from a previous ball she had gone too. In Tilton's meager closet she found a bright blue tunic and new black breeches for Jon to wear. They were in the process of doing up Jua's hair and make-up for the ball that night. Jua was seated on the one chair in the room, an uncomfortable wooden thing. Jon stood behind her trying to do her hair up for her. When he was completed with the style, Jua had given him directions on how to do it; he handed her a cracked handheld mirror.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked cautiously.

"Umm, to be honest, it looks like a drowned cat, even with my instructions," she said slowly. Needless to say, she took it down and did it over while the two laughed about his "talents" when it came to hair.

A couple hours later Jua's hair and face paint was finished and they were ready to go to the ball. 

~*~

The two left the house and walked up to the palace gates. When they were just outside the gates they stopped. Jon used his gift to get the dirt off of their clothes and straighten their hair.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Jua asked him.

"Mistress Cooper taught me." George's mother had been teaching Jon how to use his magic for the last six months; George had kept his word about finding someone to teach him.

"Well, thank you, now, shall we?" she asked taking his arm and going up to the guards who let the "noble couple" inside without any problems. "See, now was getting in here so hard?"

Her question fell on deaf ears. Jon was looking around the hall into which they had just entered. Jua followed his gaze to the ornate tapestries hanging on the wall. The hangings showed pictures of great battles and moments in Tortallion history. She tugged his arm, "Come on, it's even better in the ballroom," she said as she led him down the hall towards the sound of music playing.

When they got to the ballroom they stopped just inside the doors and looked around; Jon to see what his first ball looked like, and Jua trying to find their friends. Soon she spotted Alan, Gary and Raoul over in a corner talking to a group of young ladies. Gary and Raoul were obviously flirting with the girls while Alan was looking uncomfortable. (a/n: yes, i know he would be serving, but he is taking a break for a few minutes.)

Jua nudged Jon in the direction of the group. When they got close enough that Alan noticed them, he sent them a look that plainly said, "Help me!"

Jua leaned in and whispered to Jon, "Alan, is famous for his strong dislike of anything social."

"Oh, I see," Jon said with a nod. The two continued over and said a quick 'hi' to Alan, who had to get back to serving. Jua walked over closer to Gary and Raoul and said, very lady like, "Hello, Squire Gareth, Squire Raoul."

The two looked confused for a minute before they started laughing.

"Jua! Jon! Haven't seen you two in awhile," Raoul said with a laugh. The two girls they had been talking to shot Jua nasty looks. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we couldn't miss his majesty's birthday celebration now could we?" Jua said, adding slyly, "and Gary's toast to the king."

Gary shot her a look, and it was not a very nice look either. Of course, being the type of person she is, Jua just laughed at him. The four of them, Jua, Jon, Gary and Raoul, talked for a while and without their knowledge the two ladies had left, feeling very put out.

About an hour later dinner was served in the Banquet Hall and everyone took their seats to eat a fancy dinner of various roast meats and vegetables. Throughout the meal Jon and Jua would slip a piece of roll or a bite of turkey into the bags they both had, for later meals. About two hours into the meal it was time for people to give their toasts and the entertainers to sing songs and tell stories. When Gary stood up to give his toast Jua caught his eye and winked, while Alan, who had come out with the other servers to hear the toasts, gave him an encouraging smile and mouthed, "good luck."

It turned out that Gary had no reason to be nervous, his toast came out wonderful, as Alan had predicted, and everyone congratulated him on it later. About two hours after he gave his toast, Gary excused himself from the ball, saying good night to the king and queen and gave his friends the excuse of having to get up for classes in the morning.

On his way to his room he had to walk down a long corridor, which had dozens of paintings hanging on the walls. He had seen them all many times before so he didn't give them more than a quick glance. Suddenly he froze, chills shooting up his spine. He glanced back to where he had been looking just a second ago and realized _exactly_ where he recognized Jon from…

a/n: aren't i evil?? i'm sure tho, because you are all very smart people, you can figure out where gary recognizes jon from… so… please review, because all your nice reviews are what motivate me to keep updating this (tho i am still very slow about it… i'll just have to try and work on that...) anyway, i hope everyone enjoyed this… and below I have included thank you notes to everyone who has reviewed… 

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Thank you notes:

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Lilue: i'm glad you like my fic…

Angel-Goddess: thank you for the spelling of that, i knew i had it wrong…

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ThePenMage: that's alright, and don't worry about reviewing my story every chapter… and i know my fic is confusing, i did it on purpose, aren't i evil?? But yes, it will all be explained in the upcoming chapters…

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IceByrd67: lol, i'm working on more… and i'll try to think of titles for ya, if I come up with anything i'll let ya know

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Arram Salmalin: thank you, and hopefully i'll get another chapter out soon…

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Mage Melery: i'm hurrying… don't worry

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Giovanna: well, since you said please… and if your whole "EXISTENCE" depends on it… ::winks::

MagixPawn: More chapters are on the way…

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Jackie: thank you, i'm glad you like it 

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hyperchick88: I'm glad you think this is a "GREAT IDEA," i don't get many of those…

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Pyro-Punk: thank you for reviewing

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JJJLCC: actually, you didn't confuse me at all, and it will all be explained in upcoming chapters…

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Everyone who reviewed: thank you for your wonderful reviews, i feel so loved ::grins::


	6. chapter six

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Please answer in your reviews: _I've had a request for romance… (thanx to Jarna Hill for making the suggestion) I've been considering adding some, but I want to see how many people think I should add it… if a lot of people want it I'll try to work it in (although I can't guarantee I will be any good at writing it…) so please, in your reviews, let me know if you want romance, and who you want it to be between… although, I can't guarantee that I will use that couple but please do me a favor and put it in your reviews… or if you want, you can email me at _insane_fairy_chica@hotmail.com _(email about anything is always welcome, suggestions, comments, questions…) well, enough of my blabbering… _

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On the Streets

by jilla kala

a/n: takes place a couple hours after j&j leave the ball… don't forget to r&r please… thanx to my reviewers, thank yous at the bottom… also, this chapter is dedicated to Forestsilver because their comment gave me an idea and this chapter is also dedicated to MogsyCat who replied to my email and helped me decide what to do with this chapter and the next one. Thanx guys.

Disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates and umm… that's it so far…

Chapter Six

Jon hit the ground hard. Dazed he looked around the room. _What in Mythros name am I doing on the floor?_ He asked himself. Just a second ago he had been in his bed. The dream had come back. It had stopped about three months ago, but he had had it again that night. He thought back to the dream, it had started off as it always did, a woman's voice, telling him to come to her, getting louder and louder, until it was cut off. Then the sound of a man laughing followed by a hand gripping his arm, until it bled. But this time, he saw a form lying crumpled on the ground. A woman, her throat slashed; covered in blood. In the dream, he had felt tears slipping down his cheeks as he looked at her. For some reason, it had made his chest ache when he saw that she was dead. He figured that if he actually ever did see someone that had just been killed, he would cry, so that part did not bother him. But something _did_ bother him about the dream, and he could not remember what, he just knew that whatever had happened after he saw the woman, is what woke him up, was the reason he had fallen out of the bed, _If only I could rememb…_ his thought was cut off when the door connecting his room to Jua's opened.

"I thought I heard a th…" Jua stopped when she saw her friend sitting on the floor, with the blankets wrapped around his legs. The blank look on his face was hilarious. She started laughing. She laughed so hard she couldn't stand up and fell onto the floor by his feet. By this time he was laughing too, and had completely forgotten about his dream.

~*~

When Alan and Raoul found Gary the next morning he was sitting on his bed, staring blankly at the wall. "Gary?" Raoul called. No answer.

"Hello… Gary, wake up, you missed breakfast," Alan said. Again no answer. Raoul picked up one of Gary's shoes, which were lying on the floor where he had kicked them off last night, and tossed it at him. It hit him in the shoulder. Gary yelled, jumping up in surprise, grabbing the hilt of his sword. Alan and Raoul laughed.

"Not funny guys!" Gary growled, "You startled me!"

"We scared the crap out of you!" Raoul said in between bouts of laughter.

"You did not." The only response Gary got was more laughter from his two friends. "Shut up you guys, I need to tell you something, something important." Alan and Raoul sobered up at the tone of Gary's voice and came over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Spill it." That was Alan.

Gary took a deep breath before he said, "I know where I've seen Jon before…" and he began to explain how he knew the 16 year old thief they had met the day before…

~*~

After Gary explained his theory about Jon to Alan and Raoul they all just sat silent. No one said anything, they were too shocked. Finally, Alan broke the silence, "You have to be wrong, after all these years… it doesn't make sense."

Gary shook his head, "I'm not wrong, I know I'm right, I have to be!"

Raoul abruptly stood up and started pacing the room. He stopped in front of Gary; "What do you want us to do about it? Huh? We can't tell him, unless we have proof, because it would be horrible if we did that to him and it turned out we were wrong. So unless you can _prove_ it, Gary, we can't do anything about it."

Gary and Alan sat quietly for a few minutes, thinking about what Raoul said while he paced around the room. Then Alan spoke up, "Then why don't we get some proof?"

"And how do you propose we do that?" Raoul and Gary said at the same time.

"Well…" 

~*~

About an hour later Alanna, and her friends, Gary and Raoul, walked in the door of the Dancing Dove. Looking around the room she spotted George sitting in his usual chair, drinking a glass of ale. The three walked over, when he spotted them, George gave them a big smile, "What are you three doing here? Don't you have classes right now?"

"Classes?" the three said in unison, looking at each other in horror.

"Shit!" Gary swore, "We completely forgot about them!"

"Well, if you three forgot about your classes, you must have to talk to me pretty badly, so let's go upstairs to my rooms, shall we?" George offered. They nodded and followed him up the stairs.

When they got to George's rooms they all took seats, either on the bed or on one of the couple of chairs in the room. Gary explained to George his theory about Jon. When he was finished George said, "I have a feeling you didn't come here just to tell me that, and by the looks on your faces, I think you want me to do something about it, don't you?"

Alanna nodded, "You see George, we want to have some proof, to back Gary's theory up before we go and confront Jon about it, or tell their Majesties, or anyone for that matter, but the thing is, we don't know how to go about getting it, and we figured you could find a way to get that information…"

George was silent for a moment, obviously thinking about how he could go about doing what they wanted him to do, before he answered. "Alright, I think I can probably find you some information, but I don't know how long it will take. It may be days, it may be months, I don't know. But I do have an idea as to where I can check from talking to him and Jua, which is something you three might want to consider.""Thank you George, we knew you'd help," Gary said as he stood up. Alanna and Raoul got up also and the three left the Dancing Dove.

~*~

A couple weeks later Jon was helping Jua clean up from lunch when there was a knock at the door.

"Oh… Jonathan… It's for you! Guess who!" Shiloh yelled in a singsong voice as she opened the door. Jon let out a mock-exasperated sigh as Gary, Alan and Raoul walked into the room.

"Well, don't I feel special. I know when I'm not wanted," Raoul said jokingly. Jua laughed along with the others before asking what they were doing here.

"Well, Gary and I came to invite Jon here to go for a walk, Alan said he wanted to talk to you." Jua nodded and led Alan up the stairs to her room so they could talk in private, while Jon followed Gary and Raoul out the door.

~*~

Jua sat down on the bed across from her friend. "Well…" she said when Alanna hadn't started yet. (a/n: jua knows that alan is really alanna, george and mistress cooper are the only other ones who know yet. if you wanna know how she found out, email me and i'll tell ya… also jua knows about gary's theory, she helped give them clues as to where to look.)

"Here," Alanna said, as she handed her a paper. "George sent this to us."

Jua looked down at the folded up piece of paper in her hand, opening it she began to read:

Hello,

Burn this after you have all read it,

and you have shown it to Jua.

I hope everything is going good with you.

I have been looking into the "mystery" regarding

Jonathan, as you asked.

I am in the islands now, as Jua said that

he may have been there, even though he told her

he never has.

There is just one thing missing, which he may be able

to explain that will prove its truly him, 

no doubt about it. I'll explain when I get back.

I'll be back in less than a week,

we can talk then.

Until I get back, I suggest you keep talking to him,

and Gary, you can stop wondering, you were right,

we've found the Prince.

-George

a/n: i'm such a bitch… ;] first i make you wait to find out who gary thought jon was… then i end that chapter by telling you. (and in case anyone missed it… gary thought jon was the prince of tortall, and he was right…) I'll explain how it works in the next chapter, and because I have spring break in one day (or a homeroom and four classes!!! YEA!!) I should be able to get it up soon! YEA again!! And as aways, please review! Thanx!

Thank you notes:

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g: thank you for telling me to write faster, it helped me to get my butt in gear…

ThePenMage: I think I answered your question when I reviewed your story, but if i didn't, email me and i will explain it… 

blacwolve: thank you for reviewing 

Angelina Weasley: thank you for reviewing and thank you for telling me that you had updated…

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Forestsilver: thank you for the compliment… also, your review gave me an idea as to how I can make part of the story work… thanx

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Arram Salmalin: why does everyone keep saying i'm evil?? *grinz* thank you for saying i am a great writer, i really appreciate it… oh, and i find that taking a deep breath and counting to ten slowly helps me to calm down before i go on three hour rants… *wink* or… if it doesn't help me calm down… it gives me extra air to use so that i can yell louder… hehe

Blue Eyes: i am sorry that you are confused… and i hope this chapter answered your question about Jon and Alanna… if it didn't, you can email me at insane_fairy_chica@hotmail.com and i'll explain it

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devilkitti8: i'm glad you like my story and thank you for basically telling me to get working… and thank you for reviewing so many times to make sure I got the message, but remember, patience is a virtue… kidding kidding ;]

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MogsyCat: i hope that this chapter was worth waiting for… and worth you tearing your hair out… *wink wink* and thank you for replying to my email…

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erin: i am going to write more as soon as I can…

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Angel-Goddess: i'm glad i'm loved *grinz* and i'm glad you love me story too. i think i left directions on bold and italics in my review of your story, but if i didn't, email me at insane_fairy_chica@hotmail.com and i'll tell you…

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Jarna Hill: 100 reviews?? *sigh*** **that would be very cool… but i don't think that will happen for awhile… and i do plan on adding some romance… and suggestions are welcome as to pairings…

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MagixPawn: i'm a horrible person? *thinks about it* ok, you're right *winks* hehe, but no, i didn't do it to _just _spite you… kidding kidding… oh, and btw, i know the cliffie was obvious… I'm too dumb to write a non obvious one… ; )

Angelina Weasly: i think i answered this in a review of your story… but yes, alan is still alanna and all that… and i might have that come into play… but i might not… 

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Everyone Who Reviewed: thank you for your reviews… and (this is for everyone, not just previous reviewers) please tell me what you think i should do for romance… also, check my author's profile or email me if you wanna know what's happening with the progress of the story… 


	7. chapter seven

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On the Streets

by jilla kala

a/n: ::passes out smelling salts:: i think you guys might need these… because, yes, i, jilla kala, have UPDATED, in a relatively short time, compared with my other chapters ::readers faint:: i know, shocking isn't it?? well, i didn't want to wait _too_ long, (although, it did take me longer than I wanted) some readers are threatening me… anything you can think of has been used to threaten me… *grinz* ok, i know some people are confused, if this chapter does not clear things up for you, please, email me (insane_fairy_chica@hotmail.com) because i really don't want people to not understand what's going on, there is nothing worse than reading something and not getting it… ok, well, i'll stop talking now, because, even though i know you guys *love* to listen to what i have to say (hey, i can dream can't i?) i know that what you really want is to read this chapter. Oh, and this whole chapter is practically dialogue, so bear with me. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOGSYCAT!! Hehe

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reminder: i want feedback on what people want me to do in regards to romance… do you guys want it? or not? who should it be between? i would like to know… so, please, tell me in your reviews or email me about it…

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disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates, and umm… that's it so far…

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dedication: this chapter is dedicated to jon25me and Jarna, thanx for telling me what you want on the romance thing, 

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criteria: someone asked me to tell them what the criteria for getting an ffn account is… if you've already got one, go ahead and skip this *grinz* anyways, you need to agree to the terms of service thingy… and you need a pen name (which can be anything, doesn't have to be relate to your name or sn) and you do need an email address, cuz if i remember right (someone correct me if i'm wrong) so that they can send you a conformation email, but that's all they send you, (at least, i haven't gotten anything else) and you need to give your email when you sign in…. but you can just delete it from your bio so that other ppl can't get it. if that's a problem, you can do what i did, i got another email addy (from hotmail, so its free) and gave my name as jilla kala (i eventually changed it, but that's not important) oh, and you just need to be over thirteen, but i've seen ppl who aren't, so its not a big deal. hope that helped, and if you get one, lemme know what ur penname is, cuz i wanna read your stuff.

Chapter Seven (two weeks later, after George has been back for about a day or two)

Jua sat on the floor of her room doing some sewing, she was trying to mend a shirt that had been ripped in a fight, but so far, it was not working. She growled with frustration as she pricked her finger, yet again, with the needle.

~*~

In the next room over Jon lay on his bed trying to sleep. He would get about halfway there when he would be woken up by a curse from the other room. Although she was keeping him awake, he had to smile every time he heard Jua's muffled curses through the wall. With a sigh he rolled over, burying his head under the covers to block out the outside noises.

~*~

Jua was almost done with the shirt; _three more stitches should do it, _she said to herself, when she was interrupted by a knock on the downstairs' door. She paused in her work, waiting to see if someone else would get the door. When the knock came again she stood up, throwing the shirt onto the floor with a curse; she didn't even bother to stifle it this time, forgetting Jon was trying to sleep in the other room. Stalking over to the window she looked down at the door to see who it was. George stood on the step with Gary, Alan and Raoul close behind him.

"Coming, coming!" she yelled down as George knocked again. "Impatient little bastard," she mumbled to herself as she trotted down the stairs. She pulled the door open just as he was about to raise his hand to knock again. "You knock _one_ more time and I'll make sure you can never knock on anything again, and I mean _never_," she warned him as she turned and walked into the house, George and the others followed her in. "I'd offer you a seat, but as you can see, we don't have any," she said with a wave around the bare room. This was Gary, Alan and Raoul's first time in the house.

"That's alright," Gary told her.

"So, what can I do for you boys?" Jua asked as she leaned against the doorframe into the other room.

"Well, we figured this was as good a time as any, and if it was alright with you, we wanted to tell Jon now," Gary explained. 

Jua was silent for a moment before, with a sigh, she answered him, "Well, he's sleeping right now, and I don't want to wake him up."

"I'm not sleeping," a drowsy voice from behind her said. She turned and looked at Jon, who was leaning against the rough railing on the stairs rubbing his eyes, "I'm not asleep," he said again, "did you need me for something?"

Jua turned and looked at the people standing behind her, they all nodded. With a sigh of resignation she turned back to Jon, "We need to talk to you."

~*~

The six of them were seated around Jua's room a few minutes later. Jua sitting on the end of the bed, Jon on a chair next to her. George was sitting up against the wall by the door while Gary had a chair in the center of the room; Alan and Raoul were seated in chairs on either side of him. No one began. Finally Jon had to prompt them to start, "Well…"

In the end, Gary started talking, "Jon, I want to tell you a story. It's a true story. You might have heard parts of it before, but I don't think you have heard all of what it is I have to tell you," he paused. Jon nodded for him to continue. And so he did…

"As you may know, my father, Duke Gareth of Naxen is Queen Lianne's brother, making me Their Majesties' nephew. My father is in charge of the training of the pages at the palace, and so when I was younger, I spent a lot of time there. When I was one, I'm seventeen now; Aunt Lianne had a baby, Prince Jonathan. I was much too young to remember when my cousin was born, but they told me that we used to play with each other all the time. I do, however, remember when I was three. Well, I remember bits and pieces of when I was three, I was still too young to remember everything, but I do remember my cousin. I remember him clearly. We used to sit in the corner of my father's office and play little games. One I remember playing, we used to play it a lot, was this game with little polished rocks. We each had this little handful of these shiny rocks and we used to play with them like they were money, and we would go and "buy" things from Father. We would give him a couple rocks and take one of his quills, or we would take a piece of paper. You know, little things. Anyway, we were very close, well, as close as young children of our age could be. Occasionally Father would watch him for the night if Their Majesties' were busy, or vice a versa.

Anyway, one night we had been up late while our parents were at a meeting. We had been playing in the hallway outside the door. I can't remember what we were playing, but that's not what's important anyway. I remember that we had fallen asleep, and when I woke up later I was in my bed. Father has since told me that the meeting had gotten out while we were asleep and our parents had brought us back to our rooms for the night. That was the last time I saw my cousin." Here Gary paused, his voice catching in his throat. Alan reached out and put a reassuring hand on his arm. He gave a weak smile of thanks before continuing the story.

"Sometime during the night someone had sneaken into the prince's room and taken him while he slept. In the morning the Queen found him missing when she went to wake him up. I don't remember exactly what happened, I was too young to understand what was going on. I just remember everyone running around frantic, looking everywhere. I think, although no one will admit it, that they had forgotten about me, because I just sat in corner of the room with no one paying any attention to me. I don't think any one had even fed me, because I was sitting on a blanket on the floor crying all morning. People realized I was there, I think, when I started screaming, asking where he was. I guess I must have known something was wrong. But when I started screaming for him, everyone in the room turned and looked at me before Father scooped me up into his arms and took me out of the room, almost at a run. Before he got me out of the room, though, I remember seeing Aunt Lianne fall into Uncle's shoulder, sobbing, then the door closed behind us.

Everyone at the palace was frantic for months. King Roald had everyone who could, out looking for Jonathan for days on end. After several months of this, Their Majesties finally gave up, convinced that he was dead. A year later they named Duke Roger the heir. No one really talks about Jonathan much, its too painful I guess. I get the feeling that they wish they could have at least found his body, but they never did. They never found out for sure that the prince was even killed."

After a brief pause Jon spoke up, "That's horrible and all, but, why are you telling me this?"

"We're gettin' t' that part, Jon," George said. "Gary thought he may have found the prince, so he asked me to find out if he was right. You know me Jon, can't turn down a friend, so I agreed. By talking to people who knew the boy we think is the prince, I figured that I should probably start in Port Caynn because he had said he had been there before. So I rode down there taking two sketches, one of the boy now, and one from right before he was kidnapped and I asked everyone I saw if they had ever seen this boy. I didn't have any luck the first two days that I was there, but on the third, just before I was about to give up, I asked this man who said he had seen the boy in the older picture, he said he had found the boy lying on the side of the road and had taken him to see a healer. He showed me where the healer is and I went in to talk to her. She said that she had healed the boy, he had had some fever, but I can't remember what it was called. I asked her if she knew where he was from. She told me that he never told her, he just said he was going to Corus. She also said that she believed he might have been from the islands, because he had an accent. So I decided that I would go to the Islands after that. Enough people who had talked to him had said he had a bit of an accent, and I myself have noticed it too while talking to him. So I went up to the islands. When I got there I showed the pictures around but no one had seen him. Finally I got to a little town, I never even found out the name of it, but when I got there I showed the picture to this girl, she seemed to be about sixteen or seventeen. She said her name was Ashley. When she saw the picture she gasped and told me that he used to live next door to her, with his parents and an uncle. When I asked her to show me where he lived because I wanted to talk to his parents she told me that they had died, about four years ago, and the uncle a year before. I asked her if she knew where he lived now and she said that he had run away a couple of months after his parents died. She invited me to come to her house so we could talk and I could talk to her family. When we got there I asked them to tell me anything they could about the boy." George stopped talking to make sure everyone followed what he was saying. He looked around the circle. Alan nodded, as did Gary, Raoul and Jua. Jon looked a little pale, as if he knew what was coming, but he motioned for George to continue anyway.

"They told me what she had said before, about his parents and him leaving. They all said the sketch was indeed the boy who used to live by them. They told me that he had been about three-ish when he and his family moved in. Which would fit right in with the age that the young prince was kidnapped. They recognized the younger sketch too. They said that the adults never talked very much, but that they had heard rumors that they were not his real parents. They told me they had always figured this rumor was started because he had looked nothing like his parents, while the boy was dark haired and bright blue eyed, the parents were blonde haired with green eyes and red haired with light blue eyes respectively. He also lived with his uncle, who again, bore no resemblance to any of the others; the way they described him made me think he may have been Bazhir.

I asked them if, besides that the family did not physically resemble each other, there was anything significant about the boy and his family. Ashley told me that, although the family was poor, the boy always wore a thin gold chain around his neck, most of the time it was covered up by his shirt, but sometimes the chain would slip out a bit. She told me she had asked him about it when he was older and he had told her that it was a family heirloom and that even though they could sell it for money, his parents said he should keep it with him. She always accepted that. I asked her if she knew what the chain looked like, if there was an amulet or locket on it. She said he had never showed her the whole thing, even though they were very close. Ashley's parents told me that the boy's parents had always seemed very nervous, always looking over their shoulder and behind doors. They told me that they were very protective of their son. Ashley's mother told me that she remembered one time they had invited him to stay for dinner and his parents had been terribly angry with him for not telling them where he was. She said that when she had seen him a couple days later walking down the street he had horrible bruises on his face and arms, and when she asked him what happened he had told her that he had gotten in a fight with some boys, but she had always suspected that his parents had punished him severely for not coming home on time."

Again, George paused in his story to let the information sink in. He looked around the room, Gary's face was tight with what George presumed to be anger over the way his cousin had apparently been treated. Jua was stony faced as was Alan. Raoul was pale and seemed angry too. George could not tell how Jon was reacting to the story.

"They told me some other things that helped prove that we were correct, little things that aren't important at the moment. The one thing, though, that will prove you were right, Gary, is if the person we think is the prince has the gold chain, which I believe is the chain that the King and Queen gave to the prince when he was born. That was supposedly the only thing, besides what the prince was sleeping in that disappeared with him," he explained to the others in the room. They all looked at Jon.

"Why did you all tell me this?" he managed to croak out after a few seconds.

"Well," Gary said, looking Jon straight in the eyes, he paused than continued, "We think you're the prince."

The room went dead silent. There wasn't a sound in the room, it was as if everyone was holding their breath to see how Jon would react to the probably shocking news, in fact, some of them were. The silence was broken as Jon stood up, with such force that the chair screeched back and fell over as he ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him and out of the house into the yard.

a/n: well?? how did you like it?? i know… another cliffish ending… they are just so much fun to write *grinz* anyway… quick explanation so people are not as confused as i think they might be, the king and queen gave the prince (jon) a gold chain with a locket on it when he was born (more about the locket later) and he was wearing it when he was kidnapped, (more about the kidnapping later) so, from the "evidence" that George gathered, Jon should still have it, which is good (a way to identify him, more on that too in another chapter) well, I might wanna shut up now, I dun wanna give away too much of the future chapters… if you have any questions, leave em in reviews or email me (email at top of page and in author's profile) remember, I still want to know what you think about the romance thing

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Thank you notes:

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Am: i won't stop this story, although, it may take me awhile to update it sometimes… hehe… and I hope your head gets working again *wink*

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emily: thank you and I'll try

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Devilkitti8: no, i'm not… its only been about two weeks, besides, I can't take too long with you always reminding me to keep going (thanx for that btw)

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Jarna: don't worry, i wanna try writing romance… and thanx for the suggestions

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CactusFilly: i thought i saw that you got an account, but i put the criteria up just in case, hope its helpful if you still need it *grinz* oh, and sorry bout the cliffies… hehe, good luck writing

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Kell: actually, I had a touch of the dreaded writer's block… I had been on a roll… going great, than I had to get off… and the W.B. struck!! *screams* hope you can get rid of yours

Lady Knight of Kennan: sorry, I have more "evil cliffhangers" planned out…hehe… that's the fun of being the author… i sorta know what happens… mwahahahaha!!!! *grinz*

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blacwolve: careful… if you bang your head into things too hard you might break something *winks* and that's ok that u did not reply, i can forgive you ^_^

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MogsyCat: NOO!!! not the evil SUNLIGHT REFLECTIONS!!! AHHHHH!!! And by the way… HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! (technically, with the time stuff, i'm a day late… but still *grinz*)

MagixPawn: i'm *sob* a horrible person??? *sob* hehe… i hope this chapter cleared some things up for you about what George was saying… if not, email me and i'll explain

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jon25me: thank you for the review and the suggestion on the romance… 

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Angelina Weasly: its ok… don't cry… I'll try not to be mean too much… but sometimes I just can't help it *wink*

Everyone Who Reviewed: thank you for your reviews… and (this is for everyone, not just previous reviewers) please tell me what you think i should do for romance… 


	8. chapter eight

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On the Streets

by jilla kala

a/n: i am **_soooooooo_** sorry it took so long**, **but here's the next chapter… also, the beginning of this chapter is probably going to be confusing… because it is a lot of jon's thoughts… which are a bit… all over the place… this chapter starts from Jon's POV when Gary tells him his idea… also, warning: this chapter is _very_ sappy…

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disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates, and umm… that's it so far…

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dedication: this chapter is dedicated to Jip, because great minds _do_ think alike, and to Angel-Goddess, because she said so many nice things, to Giovanna, blacwolve and crazNM for the romance suggestions and also to Devilkitti8 for reminding me to keep writing. thanks guys!

Chapter Eight

"Why did you all tell me this?" he managed to croak out after a few seconds.

"Well," Gary said, looking Jon straight in the eyes, he paused than continued, "We think you're the prince."

There wasn't a sound in the room, it was as if everyone was holding their breath to see how he would react to the probably shocking news, in fact, some of them were. The silence was broken as he stood up, with such force that the chair screeched back and fell over as he ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He fought back the tears that blinded him as he ran down the stairs, tripping and sliding down the last couple steps. Jon fled through the kitchen and out the door, slamming it behind him. He ran out back to the little plot of grass and flowers they called a lawn and fell to his knees.

__

"We think you're the prince." NO! "We think you're the prince." NO! You're wrong! "…the prince… the prince… the prince!" thoughts swirled through his head crazily, making him dizzy. _"We think you're..." _ "NO!" he sobbed. "NO!" but despite his objections the thoughts kept coming. _"…the gold chain… the King and Queen gave… to the prince…" NO!! "…. the only thing …that disappeared with him," _He gagged and retched on the ground, the thoughts still surging through his mind.

__

I'm the prince… NO! I'm not! It's not true… they wouldn't lie to you… but they are… don't be stupid, they're your friends!… So? That doesn't mean anything… you're parents did… NO! or should I say… kidnappers? While his thoughts flew back and forth in his head, arguing with each other, he didn't know Jua came up behind him until he felt a hand on his back and her other hand brush his hair away from his brow. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve before turning to look at her. _Jua wouldn't lie to you._

~*~

After Jon ran out of the house Jua and the others just sat where they were not saying anything. Finally Jua got up and excused herself with a quiet, "I'm gonna go make sure he's ok," and left the room. When she got outside she saw him hunched over, vomiting on the lawn. _Oh gods… I didn't think he would react that badly…_ She walked over and knelt down behind him. He wiped his face on his arm and turned his tear-streaked face to look at her. Neither of them said anything for a moment, until he said, so quietly that she almost couldn't hear him, "Is it true?"

Jua's heart wrenched when she looked at him, he looked terrible. She nodded, "Yeah, it is." He broke down into sobs and fell onto her shoulder. Fighting tears herself she held him while he cried.

~*~

Meanwhile, inside the house, Alanna and her friends had not moved, with the exception of Gary, who had walked over to the window to watch the scene outside. While Alanna did not know exactly what Jon was going through, she could sympathize. She knew what it was like to live a lie, yes, her lie was by choice, and ultimately it would be for good, but she still could understand. She knew that he must be feeling very alone right now, and she understood that perfectly. She had lied to her friends, _was _lying to her friends. They thought she was Alan, the small but tough _male _page, yet she was a girl, no matter how well she hid it, no matter how hard she tied the bandages on her growing chest, and how hard she worked to be as good as the boys, she was still a girl, and it got lonely. She understood that since they broke the news to him, that he was the long lost prince, that Jon was probably feeling like no one understood, Mythros knows she had felt that way herself plenty of times. With a sigh she turned to look at Gary, standing in the window. The shadows played on his face, making it hard to see his expression. She stood up slowly, stretching her muscles, which were tight and cramping up from sitting in one position for so long, and walked over to stand beside him. He turned to look at her and with a shock she realized he had been silently crying, there were tracks on his cheeks from where the tears had slid down his face and his eyes glistened with unshed tears. Alanna reached over and put a hand on his shoulder, than impulsively she hugged him tightly. Gary stiffened for a second in shock, and than relaxed and whispered in her ear "Thanks Alan."

Alanna smiled at her big friend and looked down at the two people sitting on the ground below the window. They were seated on the ground and Jua was holding Jon tightly against her. From the position Alanna was in, it looked like Jon was holding tightly to her, as if trying to keep the pieces of the life he knew together. Alanna turned away from the window, "Gary," she said quietly, "I don't think we should watch them, it's really personal."

Gary nodded in agreement and the two went and sat back down with their friends to wait for Jon and Jua to come inside.

~*~

Jon clung tightly to Jua, his fingers digging into her back. His face was buried in her shoulder and he was sitting half on her. She rubbed his back and whispered soothing words into his ear but he didn't hear them. His mind was still swirling dizzily with thoughts, but one stuck out the most in his mind, the memory of his dream from a few days ago, and particularly the memory of the woman lying on the ground. He now remembered what happened in the dream that woke him up, he knew who the woman on the ground was. After he had seen her he had fallen onto his knees next to her, clinging tightly to her, sobbing into her blood soaked shirt; he had been repeating "_Mother! No, ma, no! Please!" _over and over again. Then the man in the dream had come up behind him and said in a cold voice "Long live the Queen," and thrown a jeweled crown onto the body where it bumped up against his arm, waking him up.

A strong shiver coursed through his body as he thought about the dream. The woman in his dream was his mother, the Queen of Tortall, making him the prince. _They were right_ he thought_ they were right and I have the chain to prove it! _ he thought as he slid his hand up to touch the chain hanging over his heart.

"Jua?"

"Yeah?"

"Here," he said quietly, taking it off of his neck and handing it to her. She looked at the gold chain in the palm of her hand as Jon stood up and started walking off into the city.

"Jon! Wait! What is this?" she called out after him, rising to her feet as she spoke.

"It's the chain George was talking about," he answered, without turning around, his voice cracking at certain words.

"Where are you going?" she yelled at his retreating back.

"I need to be alone," and with that he disappeared around a corner.

~*~

Jon crossed the busy street, dodging people and carts traveling through the streets. He ran into the dark alley between two buildings and broke down into tears again. He leaned up against the wall, resting his tear-stained cheek on the cool bricks until the tears subsided and he continued down the alley with no particular destination in mind. After a while he found himself standing on the step of a large wooden building. Inside he could hear people shouting. He looked around until he saw the sign hanging out front, which read:

**__**

The Dancing Dove

Bar and Inn

With a grin Jon pushed the door open and sat down at one of the tables. It wasn't long before a tall blonde girl came over to ask him what he wanted. Even though he didn't ordinarily drink, he ordered a mug of ale to help calm his nerves.

~*~

Jua walked into the room where the others were still sitting and plopped onto the bed. They looked at her expectantly. "What?"

"Umm… Jua… where's Jon?" Raoul asked.

"How should I know? He gave me something," she said "and than he said he needed to be alone and left."

"Why didn't you follow him?" Gary demanded.

"Because, your selfishness, he wanted to be alone and I respect that. If any of you don't care that we just destroyed everything he's ever believed in and that he needs time to think, than fine, _you _go follow him, but _I'm_ not."

"I never said I didn't care. I care more than you can ever understand!" Gary shot back, than he added quietly, "I just don't want to loose him again," and broke down crying.

"Gary? Gary I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it, honest." He shook his head and got up and left the room.

Jua swore before getting up to follow him, again leaving the others to sit and think about what just happened.

~*~

The boy gulped down his third mug of ale before waving Marti, over again.

"What can I get you?" she asked kindly.

"Another one of these, please," he said with a slur. Marti nodded before walking off to get him his drink. She had seen the boy around the Dove before and knew his name to be Jon; one of George's favored. She rolled her eyes, _that man, while he is a good King, cares too much sometimes about these kids _she thought.She knew that if anyone messed with one of his favorites George would have something to say about it. She knew that even though it was against her better judgement to give the kid another drink, he probably wouldn't be able to handle many more, if she did not give him what he ordered George would not be happy. Of course, she also knew he wouldn't be happy if she let the boy drink himself sick either. It was a no win situation. With a sigh she filled the mug three-quarters full with ale and filled the rest of it up with water. _If I can't stop him from getting drunk, I might as well slow the process down a bit._

~*~

Gary sat in the corner of the privy, with his arms wrapped around his knees which were pulled up to his chest, crying. Jua sat on the floor next to him rubbing his back trying to calm him down. So far, it was not working. "Gary, please listen to me," she pleaded, "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to be rude and I'm _really_ sorry. Gary, please stop crying, it's going to be alright."

He shook his head; "It's not that. It's not you. It's just; he was my best friend. I know, I know, I was only four. But still. I… I'm afraid he's gonna leave again, now that I've found him. And… I know it will be good for everyone for him to come back, and I don't know what I would do if he doesn't come back. The Queen never really got over it you know. And… and…" he fell, sobbing, into Jua's arms, and for the second time that day, Jua was left to offer whatever comfort she could.

A few minutes later Gary stopped sobbing and was just crying softly into her shoulder. Wanting everyone to be happy she made a suggestion, which she hoped, would please Gary but not anger Jon; "How about this, if he's not back by sunset we can all go looking for him? I'm sure he'll be back by then, but if he's not, we can go find him."

Gary nodded in agreement and the two went back into the other room to tell the others the plan.

Jon wasn't back by the time the sun had fallen from the sky, and so, like they had decided, Jua and the others split up into groups and went off to find him. Raoul and Jua were going to take one half of the city and Gary, Alan and George would take the other half. They agreed to meet back at sunrise.

~*~

Jon was sitting in his chair sipping his latest mug of ale, he wasn't sure what number it was, he had lost count a _long_ time ago, thinking. He knew he had a problem, something that was bothering him, but the alcohol had fuzzied his mind. As he was lost in thought and his drink a young girl came up and sat beside him. She looked to be a couple years older than him. _Wench. _The word popped into his head. This thought was confirmed when she stuck her hand on his thigh, his _upper_ thigh.

"Can help I you?" he asked, his voice stumbling over the words, he swallowed and tried again, "Can I help you?"

She only smiled and nodded before running her other hand up his back. He shivered under her touch.

"Two coppers," she told him.

He looked at her, a bit confused. She bent in and traced his jaw with her tongue. He stumbled back, his face blushing a bright crimson; he fully understood her meaning now. He shook his head violently, making his head ache.

The girl grinned, pushing her dark brunette hair behind her ear, she stood up and walked closer to him, she leaned towards him and put a pale hand on his chest before whispering in his ear, "You know you want to."

He was about to tell her "no" when he felt strong hands pull him away from the girl and spin him around. He found himself looking up into the faces of two large, identical, muscled men. It took him a second before his alcohol-fogged mind realized he was seeing double, and it was in fact, only one, angry face he was seeing.

"I paid for that wench," the man growled angrily, the smell of the ale on his breath almost overpowering, "Don't touch her."

"No…" Jon said, searching for the rest of the words he wanted to say, they came to him too late, _I wasn't touching her, she was touching me, I was leaving_. The man punched him just below the eye before he had a chance to finish his sentence.

"Don't you be telling _me_ 'No'" the man snarled, his voice slurred, before spitting on Jon, who was sprawled on the floor, the table he had landed on broken beneath him. People were looking at them now. The man behind the bar was making his way over to them.

Jonathan lurched to his feet, swaying as he stood, before putting a hand on a nearby table to steady himself. He tried to explain the situation, but the words he spoke didn't even make sense to him, let alone anyone else in the bar. The man kicked him down before the bartender arrived, stepping between the two.

"Don't kick me!" Jon shouted, his words finally coherent. The man ignored him, talking to the barman who was trying to calm him down.

"Don't kick me! I'm the prince!" Jon yelled, frustrated, trying to get them to listen to him. The room was silent for a moment before exploding into drunken laughter at the foolishness of the young thief. The barkeeper turned from the larger man to face Jon, and, grabbing him by the arm, hauled him out the entrance.

"Fucking drunk!" he bellowed before slamming the door shut, leaving Jon alone on the front steps.

~*~

Raoul and Jua turned the corner just in time to see the barkeep at the Dancing Dove throw someone out side. Without a thought they both walked toward the Dove to see if maybe Jon had gone in there, it was, after all, a place they all frequented.

When the arrived closer Jua realized the person who had been thrown out was, in fact, Jon. She ran the rest of the way to the steps where Jonathan was sitting, slumped up against the wall, his head in his hands. She crouched down in front of him, Raoul right behind her.

"Jon?" she asked timidly, almost afraid of the answer, "Jon, are you alright?" He lifted his head to face her. It seemed to take a second for him to recognize who it was that was sitting in front of him. She saw that a bruise was starting to show on his cheek.

"Jua?" She looked up from his cheek into his eyes. "I'm tired," and with that he slid into unconsciousness. Raoul put out a hand to keep him from sliding all of the way to the floor. He nodded when Jua asked if he could carry Jon back to the house.

She watched as Raoul easily lifted the unconscious boy into his arms. The two walked back to the house in silence.

They arrived just as the sun was rising into the sky. The others were inside already when they opened the door. Raoul and Jon entered first, followed by Jua who closed and locked the door behind her. The others stood as they came in. Raoul looked around for a place to lay Jon down, it struck him as odd that the upstairs rooms had makeshift furniture, while the kitchen (and he assumed the other rooms downstairs, from what he had seen) had no furniture besides a couple of cupboards.

"Can you bring him to his room please?" Jua asked him. Raoul nodded and continued up the stairs as Jua explained to the others where they had found him. He lay Jon down on the bed in what he hoped to be his room before going back down to talk to the others.

"…and we saw someone come out of the Dove," Jua was saying as Raoul walked in. She stopped and looked up at him.

"He's sleeping."

She nodded and finished the story before excusing herself to go check on Jon.

~*~

When she walked into his room she was greeted with the sound of steady deep breaths. He was asleep on the mattress, as Raoul had said. She sat on the edge of the bed next to him and touched the now colorful bruise on his cheekbone. _I wonder where he got that_ she thought to herself. She felt movement on the bed next to her as he stirred and opened his eyes.

"Where am I?" he asked, his voice thick.

"Your home now," she told him, "Go back to sleep." Instead of closing his eyes, as she hoped he would, he sat up, looking her in the face. He reached out and clumsily took her hand.

"Stay?" he pleaded quietly. She agreed and he lay back down, still clutching tightly to her hand. He moved over, making room for her on the bed. She sighed as she lay next to him, _this will be a long night_ she thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep, listening to the sound of Jon's steady breathing and the muffled noise of conversation downstairs.

a/n: ok, that was longer than any of the other chapters i've written. i hope that was worth the wait. again, i am sooooooo incredibly sorry that it took so long to write this, it was surprisingly hard to write and i, not so surprisingly, procrastinated. i had wanted to get this fic finished before summer was over, i guess that's not going to happen, oh well, you can all just enjoy this story for longer now ::ignores the laugher from readers:: please leave a review for this chapter, reviews really help me to get going on writing this, the more reviews the more motivated i am to write (i hate people being unhappy) and as usual, comments, suggestions whatever you want are welcome in reviews or email (its in my profile) feel free to use it :)

Thank you notes:

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ThePenMage: thanks for letting me know your story had been updated, I read it but it wouldn't let me review! :( but it was a great chapter tho, I plan on signing out and reviewing it tho :)

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Wild Mage: lol, that's ok, I do stuff like that _all _the time, ask anyone :) and thank you for saying I'm brilliant, I don't get that very often *grinz* and don't worry, I don't plan on any NC-17 stuff, I like some things left to the imagination

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Devilkitti8: yes, I am going to write more :) and thank you for reminding me to get going, it gave me that extra boost of motivation that I needed (I always get lack of motivation syndrome –LMS- yuck)

evilness: NOOO!!! Don't hurt the twins!!! Hehe, jk

Jarna Hill: your welcome! thank you! and thank you for the offer too, i might have to take you up on that sometime :) if you have suggestions go ahead and give 'em to me anyways… they are always helpful… 

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mage_bird: thank you!

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MogsyCat: please don't hang me! hehe… actually, it's Ireland… lol, my friend is gonna sneak me there in his suitcase ;) 

Kaite Rose Potter: thanks and sorry about the cliffie last time *grinz*

Kiria: thank you!

CrazNM: lol, the chair was needed for affect… it wouldn't be as dramatic if it said "he stood up off the floor…" hehe, glad it doesn't bother you tho :) and thanx for the suggestion

Ely's Rose: thanx, you too

Blacwolve: *on knees* please forgive me! I don't do it to be mean…. well… that's not the only reason. ;)

MagixPawn: hehe, i'll try not to have as many "stupid cliffhangers" if i can help it

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Emily OF Yarmouthport: I'll get it out as soon as i can (sorry it took so long!)

Giovanna: glad you like where this story's going… but if you're whole existence depends on it, what are you going to do when its done? *grinz*

Keziah: congrats on getting an account!Actually, I was thinking the Yamani Islands (*sheepishly* I forgot about the Copper Islands when I wrote this) but I don't have anything definite yet. I dunno exactly how many years older Roger is, but I always thought he was closer to King Roald's age than Jon, but I have to check on that :)

Angel-Goddess: I'm gonna try to get the chapters up sooner than I have been lately, but glad you understand if I can't :) I'm glad you wanna read more, and I'll send you an email

ps: you _are_ a _great_ writer!… and I'm not that good

Everyone Who Reviewed: thank you for your reviews… and if anyone knows the age difference between Roger and Jon please let me know, cuz that's gonna bug me now *grinz* plus, you just might get a chapter dedicated to you! (and I know that's what you all _really_ want! *winks*)


	9. chapter nine

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On the Streets

by jilla kala

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a/n: ::gets on knees::i am **_soooooooo_** sorry it took so long…again… but here's the next chapter… i haven't been here (tamora pierce fanfic) a lot and the start of the school year has been _hell _(i got like a pneumonia thing and missed a bunch of school and so subsequently am having trouble with my classes) and have had like, six hours of homework a night (slight exaggeration, but only slight) but enough of the pity party, now on to the story!! oh, and apologies for the OOCness of a couple characters, lemme know if u have a tip or two on how to make the characters better. Sorry again!

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disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates, Ezra and umm… that's it so far…

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dedication: this chapter is dedicated to Keziah, purpleblue and Cassidy Peterson for telling me some approximate ages, thanx :) (if I forgot anyone who told me, lemme know, cuz I only checked in chapter 8 reviews, sorry if I forgot anyone) 

Chapter Eight

Jua rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she walked out of Jon's room. She had woken up awhile ago but he was still asleep and she didn't want to wake him, so she decided to come downstairs. When she reached the bottom of the staircase and went into the main room she found George, Gary, Alan and Raoul sitting in a circle on the floor. They hadn't realized she was standing there and so they continued in their discussion, they were talking about life at the palace lately and the new bet Gary had won. All the signs of the sensitive, emotional people they all were last night were gone, replaced by their normal selves. "Men," she sighed.

They all turned to look at her. "Oh, g'morning Jua, I didn't know you were up yet. What was it you said just barely?" George greeted her.

"Uh… nothing, I said 'hullo'" she answered with a sheepish grin as she sat down in the circle next to Raoul.

"So, Jon's not up yet?" Alan asked. 

Jua shook her head; "He had a little bit too much to drink last night, so he's sleeping it off. When he gets up we're going to have to decide what to do about this whole situation." She paused for a moment before jumping up, "Oh! I forgot!" She rummaged around in her pocket for a second before pulling out a gold chain and handing it to George. "Could this be the chain?"

George looked the chain over. He nodded, "Where'd you get this?"

"Jon gave it to me, last night, before he left."

"He did?" Gary asked.

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you all, in the middle of everything."

"What did he say when he gave it to you?" George again.

"That it was the chain you were talking about. I think he knows we're right, now whether he's going to want to admit that and do anything about it," she paused, "well, that's another story."

"Well, what did we have in mind to do about it anyway? Before we make him decide anything. Were we gonna do anything about it, or just tell him?" Alan asked. Everyone was silent for a moment before Gary answered,

"Bring him back, naturally. He _is_ the prince, and the rightful heir at that."

"I think so too," Raoul and Alan said at the same time. George nodded in agreement.

"I hate to be the one to bring up a potential problem," Jua said slowly, "but I think it needs to be considered. What if Jon doesn't _want_ to go up there and be the prince?"

The others stared at her. They hadn't considered the possibility of Jon not wanting to go back with them. "That would be a bit of a problem, but I'm sure it won't come up. Who wouldn't want to be reunited with the family they had lost?" Raoul put in.

"I'm just saying, in case. We have to respect it if he doesn't want to." No one said anything. A couple people nodded in acknowledgement of what she had said.

"I'm hungry," George announced abruptly, standing up, "I'm going to go get some food. Anyone want anything while I'm out?"

"Muffins," Jua said.

"Eggs," Raoul suggested.

"Bacon," Alan chimed in.

"Cashews," Gary recommended.

"Cashews?" George questioned.

"I can't help it," Gary said with a shrug, "I like cashews." The others chuckled and George went off to round up the meal.

~*~

George came through the door with a sack full of stolen food just as Jon came downstairs. "Just in time," Jua grinned, "Food's here."

George and Jua went into the kitchen to make the breakfast while the others arranged crates to make a makeshift table in the center of the main room. Alan came into the kitchen a few moments later to make up a hangover remedy for Jon.

After the bacon and eggs had finished cooking and the muffins and cashews were put into bowls, the group sat down around the table the others had made. Everyone ate silently for the first few minutes; the only noise was the sound of people chewing on their morning meal. Finally Jua looked up from her bowl and asked the nobles why they weren't at the palace.

"Well," Alan explained in between bites of his bacon and muffin, "we figured it's more important to be here right now, and besides, Their Majesties will forgive us when we bring Jon back, so…" he shrugged and took another bite of bacon. Jua nodded, satisfied, and continued eating. Jon on the other hand wasn't so happy.

He slammed his cup down on the homemade table, fruit juice spilling over the edge. Everyone looked at him questioningly.

"What?" he practically yelled.

"Umm, Jon, something wrong?" George asked carefully.

"No, nothings wrong George," he replied, voice dripping in sarcasm, "what could _possibly_ be wrong with me. I mean, after all, five of my friends told me last night I'm not the person I've always thought I am, and now they want to whisk me off to a whole new home. Of course nothing's _wrong_!" He practically yelled the last part before storming off.

"Gods," Raoul said after a moment, "Where'd he get that temper from all of a sudden?"

"It's a noble thing," Jua said with an innocent grin as she stood up to follow the angry thief. Alan gave a rude hand gesture to her retreating back.

~*~

Jua tried the knob on Jon's door, but found it locked. "Jon?" She called as she knocked.

"Go away!" came the shout from inside. 

Mumbling under her breath about "stupid moody boys" she pulled a lock pick out of her boot and proceeded to unlock the door. When she got it she pushed the door open and stood in the doorway. She held the pick up for his glaring eyes to see, "I could have done this the easy way you know." He turned away and she went and sat on the bed beside him. "So, what's wrong kid?" 

He didn't answer. "Jon. Talk to me."

Still no answer.

She placed her fingertips under his chin and turned his face so he was looking at her, "What's wrong?"

He looked away before answering, "I don't know them."

"Know who?"

"My… my," he gulped, "My par… the King and Queen."

"You can get to know them."

"I already had parents, I don't need more."

Jua sighed; _this might take awhile_ she thought to herself.

~*~

Half an hour later the two came down the stairs, Jua in front. In answer to the questioning looks of the others waiting for them she mouthed, "He's calmed down some, and is willing to talk about going." The others nodded in understanding. When the two sat back down everyone was silent for a moment until Jua cleared her throat.

"Jua, uh, thinks I should talk to you three about the King and Queen before I make a decision," Jon said, the comment directed to the three pages and squires although he was looking at his hands.

"Alright, what do you want to talk about?" Gary asked.

"What are they like?" The group spent the next couple hours telling the thieves all about the King and Queen and the other people in the palace, stopping to answer any questions anyone had.

~*~

Meanwhile, the guards at the palace were looking frantically about for the two large squires and the redheaded page. None of them had been seen since the night before. 

"Corus isn't that large of a city," Duke Gareth the Elder roared, "they can't have gone that far!" The person that his anger was directed at, Ezra, the captain of the palace guard, paled slightly before the angry duke. 

"I'm sorry your Grace, my men have been out looking since the three did not show up for breakfast, and there is no sign of them. Their horses are in the stables and the only things missing from their rooms appear to be the swords they all carry. No one in the stables or any of the servants have seen them."

"Find them! Their Majesties are getting worried. Its not every day three noble children disappear from a _guarded_ castle!"

"Yes, your grace," Ezra said as he bowed before turning and hurrying out of the Duke's chambers, barking orders to his guards.

Duke Gareth sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, the beginnings of a headache creeping up on him. _Where could my fool son and his friends gotten to?_ He wondered.

~*~

The sun was beginning to set by the time the chatter about palace life had died down. Everyone looked expectantly towards Jon. He took a deep breath, letting it all out before he said, "When do you guys want us to leave?" The others grinned and clapped him on the back before Gary suggested getting up to the palace as quickly as possible, as everyone at the palace was probably getting very upset at the missing knights-in-training. Everyone quickly ran up to Jon and Jua's rooms, quickly throwing some of their belongings into bags. It had been decided that Jua would go with them and would probably stay at the castle for a couple of days while everything was decided.

"Pack lightly," Raoul told them, "We can always come back and get more later."

Soon everyone was ready and they were on their way, after Jua scribbled a quick note to the others in the house, explaining that they would be back later, they had gone on trip for a couple of days.

The walk seemed to go slowly, everyone was talking at once, making plans and guessing what would happen when they got there. Everyone that is, except Jon, who seemed to be in a bit of a daze.

"Come on, you're falling behind," Jua said with a laugh as she nudged him to go faster.

~*~

By the time the group, minus George, as he didn't want to chance a run in with the Provost, arrived at the palace gates, it was dark.

"Hello!" Gary yelled through the gate, the guards appeared in seconds. The unlocked the entrance when they saw who it was. 

"Squires Gary and Raoul, Page Alan. How good of you to show up. Everyone is looking for you. You're in lots of trouble. Hey, who are these two?"

"Friends of ours," Alan replied cryptically. With a shrug the guard let them in.

~*~

"I just don't understand why they would do this, they are just barely getting done with their punishments from the last time…" Duke Gareth was telling Kind Roald and Queen Lianne when he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," Lianne answered.

A breathless page pushed the door open. Almost forgetting to bow in his haste to tell the adults his news.

"Gary, Raoul and Alan are back," he said quickly.

"Good," Duke Gareth growled, "When I get my hands on those boys…" His voice trailed off ominously.

"Send them to their rooms, Duke Gareth will be in to speak to them shortly," Roald told the boy. The page shook his head, 

"Begging your pardon, Majesties, but I was told to tell you to come to the entrance hall immediately."

"Why?" Lianne asked, a hint of worry tainting her voice.

"There are two people with them, a boy and a woman, and Squire Gareth claims that the lad is Prince Jonathan."

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a/n: again, so sorry about the long wait, and now I'm sorry for the bit of a cliffhanger, but it seemed like a good place to stop. Thank you very much to you reviewers who have stuck with me through my long absences, hugs to all of you. If you would like me to let you know when I update (as rarely as it seems to be *tear*) leave your email address in your review. 

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Thank you notes:

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Keziah: your welcome. no problem. thanx for the ages. i'm glad you think i portrayed the characters well. and he's at court now :)

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Wind Elf: thanx for the email, and i'm glad you enjoyed it

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purpleblue: thank you for the age, i always thought it was about 18 too. 

MagixPawn: i know! i'm such a procrastinator. *is horrified at herself* and then it took me forever on this chapter too, stupid school, stupid pneumonia, it keeps me away. :( sorry, no kissing in the chapter. But there will be, don't worry.

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Devilkitti8: don't give up on me. I'm going to finish, it just takes me awhile, I have to do other stuff that is "more important" to quote everyone I know, bah, school sux. And btw, your story wasn't stupid, it was original and i liked it, where did it go?

Sally Po: sorry about any OOCness. I try, but oh well. If you have any tips on how to make them more in character, I'd appreciate it :)

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The Dark Lady: I'll try, although with school that's sometimes hard. Thanx for the review.

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Kiayla: don't worry, most of us are a tad crazy, some of us (me) are bit for than a _tad_ crazy ;) hehe

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Y should I tell you?: here's another chapter, don't kill me please! Glad you think this is good. One question… why am I an idiot? 

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ally: I'm glad you love it. thanks for the review.

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Angel-Goddess: you're welcome! thank you. don't worry, pressure is what I need sometimes, otherwise I just procrastinate and stuff. And you didn't put too much pressure on me, so don't worry. and thank you for putting me on your fav authors list :) 

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Libcer: Thank you! Thanks for your review.

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ThePenMage: your welcome. and thank you for your review. :)

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Keita: I'm glad you think this is a good plot, its not that weird, I get all caught up in stuff I'm reading too :) I am flattered. Very. Thank you.

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Arram Salmalin: don't hit yourself too hard, that kills brain cells ya know. Jk. Thank you. aww man. Now I feel bad. You said you were going to look everyday for a new chapter, and I waited… how long now?? Months?? My bad… hehe. and yes he is :) 

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Prophetess of Doom: luv the pen name :) thanks for your review.

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blacwolve: school… *shudder* keeps me from writing. Thanks for reviewing.

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daydreamer: *hands daydreamer a tissue* don't cry. Sorry this took so long… darn school.

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Cassidy Peterson: thank you for the ages. I hope you don't feel like poopoo anymore. Sorry this took so long.

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Princess Amara of Conte: thank you. I have to agree that a/j is good. Although, I haven't decided just yet exactly what pairings I'm going to use. But I'll keep that in mind.

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Bluebell of Mindelan: why thank you :) I believe I went and reviewed for chapter three, of your story, if I didn't, go ahead and yell at me, cuz I know I meant to. 

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Shadowseeker003: I'm glad you like it. 

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Acura Kasalin: thank you!

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	10. chapter ten

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On the Streets

by jilla kala

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a/n: here's the next chapter, I would have had it up sooner, I actually had it written Thursday night, but I went to Boston and didn't have a computer to upload it, but here it is. 

disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates, and umm… that's it so far…

Chapter Eight

Lianne and Roald gasped, Lianne clapping her hand over her mouth in shock. The royal couple looked at each other, _do you think?_ The unspoken question asked with their eyes. Without a word the two got up and practically ran down to the entryway, followed closely by Duke Gareth. All through the corridors on the way their hearts were beating fast, the same question running through their heads, _is this boy really the lost prince?_

When the reached the entryway Roald flung the door open with a loud bang. The people inside the room flinched. The three people who had just burst through the doorway stopped just inside and surveyed the inhabitants of the chamber.

Lianne was first met with the familiar face of her nephew; Gareth of Naxen, her eyes didn't linger on his face very long, as he was not the one she was looking for. She moved on to see Gary's friend Raoul, another squire, again, not the face she was looking for. Her eyes went to the right, to Page Alan of Trebond, a small redheaded boy that was friends with the two larger squires. Next to Alan was a woman who seemed to be around Gary's age. She had mousy brown hair pulled back into a high ponytail. Her brown eyes stared back at the queen and the two men next to her. She was wearing a dark brown peasant style dress, although Lianne could tell she wasn't normally in dresses by her stance. Her eyes traveled over the girl and to the boy standing next to her, gripping her hand. The boy was also wearing peasant clothes, his dark black hair disheveled. _This must be the one Gary was talking about._ Lianne stared at him, although he did not look familiar, recognition uncurled in the pit of her stomach. 

"Jonathan?" she murmured. The dark haired boy nodded. The Queen let out a sob and ran over to the boy, her son, and threw her arms around him. The king was only seconds behind her.

~*~

Jua watched as the three people ran into the room, she recognized them as the King, Queen and Gary's father, Duke Gareth. The three individuals looked them over, before the Queen's eyes welled up with tears.

"Jonathan?" she asked. Jua felt his already steady grip on her hand tighten. When the woman enveloped him his hand was yanked, somewhat painfully, out of Jua's palm. Only seconds afterward the King had his strong arms around the pair. From Jonathan's rigid stance, Jua could tell he had absolutely no idea what he was expected to do.

_Hug them back, Jon, _she thought, _hug them back, even if you don't mean it yet, just do it._ As if he could hear her thoughts Jon tentatively put his arms around his newfound parents, whose sobs of happiness were the only sound in the room.

Jua looked over at Gary; he looked quite pleased with the things that were going on, and she hid a smile beneath her hand. The man Jua recognized as the Duke Gareth of Naxen came over, putting an arm around Gary. Gary and his father talked quietly for a few moments before they came over to Jua.

"Father, I would like you to meet my friend, Lady,"

"Anna," Jua interrupted.

"Anna," Gary repeated, giving Jua a confused look. 

She ignored him, looking to Duke Gareth and curtsying, said, "and you must be the famed Duke Gareth of Naxen, Gary has told me so much about you. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Duke Gareth smiled, "The pleasure is all mine, my lady."

The group conversed quietly while the King and his Queen welcomed their son. After about fifteen minutes the monarchs, either holding onto Jon's arms or touching his shoulders Jua noticed, came over to where they were talking.

The men around her gave deep bows to their Majesties and Jua curtsied, wobbling slightly. The two nodded their acknowledgement before King Roald addressed the two squires and the page, "For leaving the palace without permission, you three will have to be punished."

The boys hung their heads in shame.

"That is," the King continued, "unless you can give me a good reason that will satisfy all around."

"We went to get Jonathan, Your Majesty," Gary started, "he didn't know he was the prince and we had to explain it to him."

"And then things happened and we had to stay longer than we had planned," Alan chimed in.

"And then we decided to come up when he came too," Raoul finished.

The King looked from the boys to Jon, "Is that true?" Jon nodded. 

The king smiled, "I'm satisfied."

The older man then turned to Jua, "And who might you be?" he asked.

"I'm Anna Weaver, Majesty, Jon has been staying with me since he came to Corus," at the look the King gave her she quickly continued, "I did not know he was the prince until Squire Gary told me of his suspicions." The monarchs nodded.

"I think that these boys," Duke Gareth motioned to Gary, Alan and Raoul, "should be getting to their rooms so they can do some of the work that I'm sure they have to finish. And it's getting late and my guess is that it has been a long day for Jonathan, so maybe we should get him to his room and find one for Lady Anna as well," Duke Gareth suggested.

Roald nodded. He motioned for a servant to show Jon to a room in the Royal Wing. "And get a room in the Guest's Wing ready for Lady Anna."

~*~

Jon and Jua followed the servant through the castle. Jon stared as they walked down long corridors, awed by the elegant décor of the palace. The servant stopped at a dark oak door and produced a key, without hesitation the servant unlocked the door and showed the two newcomers into the room.

They both let out an involuntary gasp when they saw the room. Jon surveyed the chamber with wide eyes, mouth slightly open. The walls were covered halfway in a dark maroon cloth; curtains of the same color covered the windows. The furniture in the room, a desk and chair, a table, two chests of drawers, and a bed, were made of a deep mahogany wood. The canopy over the large bed was made of the same color as the curtains. A door on one side of the room led off to the privy. Hanging on the wall by the privy door was a large gold-framed mirror. The mirror alone was worth more than all of his belongs combined.

"Goddess," Jua whispered. 

The servant pointed to the chests, "You can put your belongs here, I'll come back in the morning to bring you warm water and some new clothes. Is there anything I can get you right now?"

"No, thank you."

"Alright then, I'll show Lady Anna to her rooms now, your Highness," the servant said with a bow in his direction. Jua gave Jon an encouraging smile and followed the servant out of the room.

~*~

Jon stared at the door after Jua closed it behind her. "_Highness." _No one had ever called him anything more respectful than street-brat and highness was certainly more than he had ever expected to hear in his wildest dreams. No one had mentioned to him that people would be calling him "highness" or bowing to him. _Well, you are their prince, what else would you expect? _The idea of being treated in such a way led to other ideas, ideas about exactly what he would have to do as the prince. _You might be king someday,_ the thought rose in his mind unbidden.

Jon barely made it to the privy before he threw up.

He splashed cool water onto his face from the basin on the counter.

"Shit," he swore. _This is too much, too soon, _he told himself, _you're not ready for this yet. You'll mess it up._

Jon's stomach twisted as he thought of all the bad things that could happen. He was about to start crying when he heard a knock on the door to his room. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves he left the bathroom and answered the door.

Jua was standing in the doorway when he opened it. She walked into the room while he closed it behind her.

"You look like you got run over by a horse," she commented, "You alright?"

"He called me highness," Jon said miserably.

Jua laughed, pulling him into a hug when he glared at her. "It's alright kid, you'll get used to it eventually. It's just a name, it won't hurt you. Promise."

He nodded into her shoulder, then pulled back to look at her. "Speaking of names Jua, why did you tell them your name was Anna Weaver?"

She sighed, "I don't know them, and so I don't fully trust them. If they find out my real name they may ask about me and find out I know George and am part of the Rouge. If that happened I'd be in trouble and they could use me or you to get to George. Speaking of that, don't tell them you know George and that you're part of his court, tell them we thieved alone, you and me."

"Fine, but why don't you trust them? Just because they are after George?"

"I don't know them. I don't know how they are going to react to things. I don't know that they won't turn on me."

"They're my parents Jua, even if I barely know them," he said, taking a seat on the bed.

"That means they won't turn on _you_," she replied.

"But you're my friend…"

"That may not mean anything to them Jon," she said, perching on the edge of the desk, "We don't know them, we wouldn't know until maybe it was too late."

Jon was quiet for a moment before answering, his emotions impossible to read, "Alright, _Anna, _I won't tell them, and you won't trust them. Now I don't feel good and I want to go to bed. G'night."

"'Night Jon," she said, kissing him on the top of his head. She left, closing the door quietly behind her.

Jon put a hand to his forehead, using his Gift to ease the throbbing behind his eyes. Slowly he undressed and crawled into bed and pulled the silky sheets up over his head, falling into a dreamless sleep.

~*~

Jua couldn't sleep. Her room in the castle was comfortable, but there was too much space. Jua couldn't hear the noises of other people that she could usually hear. At home she could always hear Jon moving about in the next room, or Tilton snoring, or Shiloh mumbling in her sleep.

Finally deciding she had had enough of the tossing and turning she crawled out of bed and dressed in a shirt and breeches. The hallway outside of her room was empty. The muffled sound of her bare feet on the carpet was the only sound.

She wandered around the halls for awhile, exploring and looking at the tapestries and paintings decorating the walls. She ended up outside of the kitchens. When she went in they were silent and dark; no one was there.

She brewed herself a cup of tea to help her sleep and drank it on her way back to her room. She decided to take a different route back to her chamber. Her new route took her through a corridor filled with paintings of famous Tortallan people. She paused and looked at the portraits as she sipped the warm liquid in her cup. Jua recognized some of the nobles pictured and for those whose names she didn't know; she identified them off of the bronze plaques beneath them all.

Next to a picture of the King and Queen was a painting of the baby Prince Jonathan, the one Gary recognized him from. To the side of the picture was one of Duke Roger of Conté, the current heir to the throne.

Jua studied his face, eighteen at the time the painting was done, wondering if he would be happy to have the Prince back or if he would be jealous and angry that he would no longer get the throne.

Shaking her head at her paranoid behavior she left the hall, heading back to her room. _The Duke will be happy to have Jon back; _she told herself as she climbed into bed again, _anyway, why wouldn't he be happy to have his younger cousin back home?_

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a/n: wow, it's hard to believe, but in six days I'll have been an author on ffn for a year. I was considering doing an anniversary fic (kind of a split off one time shot prequel dealie of this fic) but I decided probably not to, I dunno what I'm going to do though, oh well. anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and please review, it makes me happy *smiles* now, the thank yous…

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Thank you notes:

Acura Kasalin: I'm not 100% sure of the pairings I'm going to use yet, any romance probably won't happen for a couple more chapters, but I'm thankful for your opinions on the subject, umm, Jua is about 18 at this point in the story and Jon is 16

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MagixPawn: I do the cliffhangers because they are horribly fun to write *evil grin* is this amount of time better for you? ;) thanx, im sick again though (but im writing so who cares) and I won't disappear, I'd feel too guilty

**:** thanx. I know that I did that, I did it on purpose, to look at the different character's point of views, but thanx for telling me anyway :) to answer your question you can read the other chapters, they explain it all (chpt 7 I think explains it)

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Bex: I'm glad you don't find my plot boring, and thanx for your suggestion on romance, romance probably won't happen for a couple more chapters though :)

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Devilkitti8: don't give up on me, I feel too guilty if I stay away too long, I hope your problems get better, I'm in all accelerated classes too, they suck, I have no time to write *cries*

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LittleMissMe: thank you! I'm glad you found this and enjoyed it, I hope you enjoyed this chapter

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Lady Katherine: I'm glad you like it, and of course I'm going to continue :) sorry, I can't tell you the pairings yet 1. It will spoil the suspense *grin* and 2. I haven't fully made up my mind on them yet

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Keziah: I hope you feel better! You're welcome. *laughs* random is good, I like random. I know, the cliffhanger was a mean thing to do, hopefully the ending of this chapter works better for all of you anti-cliffhanger people, but they're just so much fun to write! *evil smile* ps: Jewel is an excellent fic and you should continue it, let me know when you do :) and untouched is great too, sorry I didn't leave an actual review for that one

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jazy716: thanx for your review, I hope this is soon enough

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everyone who reviewed: thank you so very much, your reviews seriously make my day *hugs* 


	11. chapter eleven

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On the Streets

by jilla kala

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a/n: my apologies to all of you who have been reading this story and have been patiently awaiting this chapter. I could offer many explanations as to why I have been so long in an update, but I am sure you are not that interested in the personal problems of an authoress, but only in the fact that I have neglected to update, especially after having done two chapters in as many weeks over Christmas break.

I would just like to say that the entire time I have been away from you all, I have felt very guilty for not working on this story and am very sorry, again

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disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates, and umm… that's it so far…

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dedication: to the reviewers who have been faithful in reading my updates, and to the first time reviewers for last chapter, may you all continue to be pleased with the work I'm doing.

Chapter Eleven

Roger of Conté was sitting in his room idly reading a book of history when his squire burst into the room. The Duke merely raised his eyebrows as the door slammed shut behind Squire Alex, not even bothering to turn and face the boy.

"You should always knock Alex, you never know what you might stumble upon if you just barge in on someone," he reprimanded, no feeling showing through in his voice.

"I'm sorry Sir, but I have very important news for you," he paused, when the Duke didn't respond, only flipped another page in his book, Alex hurried on, "Gary and his friends are back. They brought a _commoner_ with them. A commoner, from what I've heard, that they claim is the missing Prince Jonathan."

The Duke rose to his feet, slamming the large book closed. "_What_?" he roared.

Alex took a step back, the Duke could be a very formidable man when he wanted to be. "I, I said that they--" 

"I heard what you said!" the Duke interrupted, his face contorted from an unknown emotion, "How is this possible? The prince is dead! DEAD!"

"Well, sir, I--" 

The Duke interrupted him yet again, suddenly calm, his face smoothed over and a small smile appeared on his face, "Take me to see my cousin, Alex."

"He's asleep, your Grace. Their Majesties sent him to his room, believing him to be exhausted, he and his companion."

"Companion?"

"Yes, a girl. Some commoner. Annie something I believe."

"Well, Squire, if our guests are asleep now, I shall have to go and see them first thing in the morning. Now get out so I can rest."

Alex bowed and swiftly left the room, closing the door shut behind him with a soft click.

The Duke did not go to bed immediately, as he had told his squire he would. Instead he stayed up for long hours, absentmindedly tracing designs with his fingers on the desk as he thought about the new developments.

~*~

Jon awoke the next morning to a servant bringing water for him to wash in and fresh clothes. He lay in the bed, unmoving, watching the man go about his work. His eyes carefully followed the attendant around the room as he made a fire and placed a tray of juice on the desk. Jonathan did not move from the bed until the man had left the room and Jon was sure he would not come back soon. When he finally did climb out of the bed he went into the other room and quickly undressed, sinking into the warm water in the tub. He sighed, in his comfort forgetting for a moment that his life had been completely turned around.

~*~

He must have dozed off in the bath, because he abruptly jerked up into a sitting position, not knowing the reason for his sudden alertness. A creak of floorboards came from the other room, and he saw movement in the form of a shadow through the crack under the door. Slowly he climbed out of the tub, careful not to make any noise. He scuffed his feet on the throw rug in the room as he slid a knife out of the folds of his clothing in a pile on the floor. Not for the first time thankful that he never did anything, including sleeping, without at least one weapon on his body.

He moved to stand by the door, cautiously easing it open and, moving into a fighting stance, shifted into the opening so he could see into the room.

"Jua!" he said, surprised.

She spun around to look where the voice was coming from. "I thought you were an intruder!" he told her.

"No, just me," Her face broke into a grin, as she looked him over, "What you do, Jon, forget to get dressed this morning?"

He blushed as he looked down, realizing he hadn't bothered to put anything on when he came out of the bath. She tossed him a pillow off the bed, which he promptly used to cover himself with. "Go get dressed, Jon. Breakfast can wait a few more moments for you to get decent."

With a still crimson face he turned and went back into the other room, shutting the door as he dressed in the clothes the servant had brought.

When he came out of the room Jua was sitting at the desk, sipping a glass of juice. "We need to get some of this juice and bring it back to the house, it's incredible." He laughed at the look on her face as she gulped down the rest of the drink. "Alright, let's go to breakfast. This place is _bound _to have delicious food, and lots of it!" she told him.

They walked down to the dinning hall, Jua talking about all the different types of food they would have for them to eat. "You've never seen so much food in your entire life, Jon! Apples, oranges, breads, cakes, waffles…." The list went on and on.

To their disappointment, when the arrived at the table, the breakfast that morning was a simple meal of hot cereal, fruits and pancakes. None of the amazing foods they thought there would be could be found.

"Now what kind of a castle serves _oatmeal_ for breakfast?" she complained, taking a bite, "_I_ make better oatmeal than this stuff!

As Jua complained and Jon chuckled, a servant came up beside them. Bowing he said, "Their Majesties request to see you in their chambers when you are finished with your breakfast, Highness." Jon nodded and quickly finished his meal, laughing and joking with Jua.

~*~

When they finished their meal, they brought their trays up to be cleaned and walked out of the hall, stopping on the other side of the door. Jua turning down a side hallway, towards the library and Jon walked to the King's rooms. Just as he was about to knock on the door, a servant exited, carrying a tray upon which were the King and Queen's dirty dishes.

"Just go on in, Highness," she told him as she hurried down the hall. With a sigh at her use of the title, Jon entered the room, only to be greeted by the Queen engulfing him in a huge.

"Ah, Jonathan, I'm so happy you're back with us. Please, come and sit. We have much to talk about." He didn't say anything; he just took the seat opposite his father on the soft couch. 

"Lianne and I wanted to discuss your introduction and future here, with you today. I know, this may seem quite sudden, but everything is always so busy here, and if we don't do it now, we may never get to it. You understand?" He nodded.

"Now, as everyone but a few of the most trusted palace servants and friends, are unaware of your return, we were thinking a formal re-introduction to the people is in order. We will be hosting a banquet, with dancing, entertainment and of course plenty of food, in a couple of weeks. You will be introduced then. How does that seem to you?"

"Fine. That is fine with me, Majesty," Jon answered.

"Father. I am your father, no need to be so formal."

"Yes, Father."

"Now, after the banquet, you cannot just stay around here all day. Your mother and I were thinking that it would be a good idea if you began your page training as soon as possible. Now I know you are older, and should be a squire now, but we will work something out so everyone is happy. It is important for the future King to be a knight of course." The king beamed. "My heir has returned!" and proceed to hug Jonathan and the Queen tightly, not giving Jon a chance to voice his opinion about anything he had just said. _Everything happens so quickly here,_ he thought.

~*~

Jua wandered around the library, picking up a book and then putting it on the shelf. "History… no… philosophy… no… mathematics… Gods no. Don't they have anything interesting in this library?"

"There are plenty of interesting books in here. What are you looking for?" Jua spun around, quickly getting into a fighting stance at the sound of the voice behind her. She pulled a dagger out and held in up as she glared at the newcomer. To her surprise, the man laughed.

"Now, now, my dear. Put that weapon away. Though I suppose this is what I get for startling someone such as yourself now isn't it?" The man commented.

"Such as myself?" she asked, not lowering the dagger. "What's that s'posed to mean?"

"The type of woman who can take care of herself. Now, no need to get off on the wrong foot. I am Roger, Duke of Conté, your friend Jonathan's cousin."

Jua lowered the knife, still not putting it away though. "Anna Weaver."

"Pleased to meet you My Lady," the Duke said as he raised her hand to his lips. "Please, come and sit. Talk with me. I long to see my cousin, but I have been busy and currently he is with my Uncle and so I have time to spare for the moment. It has been so long since I've had much conversation, I've been working on a spell for their Majesties in terms of defense, you know."

"You're a mage?" Jua asked as she took the offered seat.

"Yes. I'm quite a powerful one at that. Now, please, tell me about yourself Lady Anna." Jua proceeded to tell him how she was "the daughter of a tailor and a seamstress," and all about how she had come to be living with Jon. The Duke asked many questions about the Prince, his eyes searching hers as they spoke, never leaving her face. Jua was so entranced by the conversation that she barely noticed the dull ache creeping into her skull, until much later after the Duke had left.

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A/n: all right, I know this is pretty rushed and really not one of my best works, but I really wanted to get something up for you guys. Also, as this seemed like a good enough place to stop and the other part I had didn't quite fit in just yet, I'll save that part for the next chapter so I can work out the bugs. As always, hope you enjoyed it, and please review. Suggestionswould also be much appreciated, as I know what I want to do, but some of the parts in between are a little fuzzy to my sleep-deprived mind.

Thanks, much luv, Jilla Kala (the slow-yet-every-returning-authoress)

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Thank you notes:

Keziah: Thanks! Too bad I only have eleven chapters so far, *sigh* I wish I had more time to work on this darn school. Yeah you're right about that. 

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Rizka: yup, definitely a long time, but I enjoy doing it, so s'all good :)

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kurleyhawk2 : surprise you, huh? Well, this chapter prolly isn't much in terms of surprising, but I'll see what I can do. Any ideas would be much appreciated (although, then it wouldn't be a surprise for you *wink*)

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~~R~~ : thanks. I try really hard on the spacing. I have to upload each chapter like four times before ffn show the proper format… grrr… 

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Miss-Sexy-Ass-Kicker: don't worry, there will be some romance at some point in the future of this fic. Of course, it isn't going to be for awhile yet, the characters didn't have much romance in the books until the second one, and I will prolly stick to around that time, as it seems to work for the romance planned.

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Wild Mage of Tortall: yeah, it is a small site :) thanx for your review 

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Everyone who reviewed: thank you so very much, your reviews seriously make my day *hugs* 


	12. chapter twelve

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On the Streets

by jilla kala

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a/n: here is chapter twelve, I decided not to wait and make this one long super chapter, and so here is chapter twelve. It's actually, my third longest yet, I believe. So, do enjoy, and please do review, they really help me to want to write. Enjoy!

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dedication: to my only three reviewers from last chapter. You know who you are. Big hugs for all of you.

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disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates, and umm… that's it so far…

Chapter Twelve

It felt like hours ago that Jon had stopped paying attention to the King and Queen, and later Duke Gareth, talk about his future there. One second they were discussing the banquet, the next they were trying to figure out a way to work out his training for knighthood. He sighed, propped his elbow up on the arm of the couch and rested his cheek in his palm. He tried to pay attention; _it is my future they are discussing, _but the sound of the ceaseless voices droning on was making him tired. His eyelids slipped shut and his arm slid down until he leaning on the end of the couch. The others continued talking, oblivious to the fact that the other occupant of the room was fast asleep and drooling on the couch.

~*~

Roger sat cross-legged on a mat on the floor of his room, giving off the impression that he was meditating. In reality, he was brooding over the information he had received that morning from Lady 'Weaver.' His supposed cousin's friend, Anna Weaver; or, as his trip into her mind that morning told him, Juanee Tanner; or Jua, the farmer's-daughter-turned-prostitute-turned-thief that had befriended the newly discovered Prince Jonathan.

When searching through her mind, he learned she did not know any more than she let on. She had been just as shocked upon learning his identity as apparently young Jonathan had been. She did not know any useful information. At least, nothing that would be helpful to him at the moment. Roger steepled his fingers together and touched the index fingers to his lips in thought. _How can I use this girl to get further information. She appears to be his closest friend, so he will probably talk to her. If you befriend her, Roger, she may come to give you some information that can be of use to you. _And with that decision made, he stood up and went into the other room to work on spells for use by himself and the king.

~*~

"Jonathan? What do you think of the plans?" Lianne asked before realizing that he was asleep.

"Poor boy, this conversation must not have been very interesting to him." Roald commented as he went and knelt in front of his son. He reached out and gently shook his shoulder until he opened his eyes.

"Oh, sorry. Did I fall asleep?" Jon mumbled as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and the saliva off the corner of his lips.

"Yes you did, but that's alright. You can run along now. The three of us can finish the plans for the banquet next week. Go ahead and explore the castle now if you'd like."

Jon nodded, bowed to his parents and left the room, shutting the door behind him with a soft click. Once in the hall he paused, trying to decide where he wanted to go. After a moment of debating, he walked off towards where he believed the practice courts to be. He wanted to watch the pages and squires to see what his potential training would be like.

~*~

The training courts were bustling with activity. Young boys were spread out over the yard, sparring with each other using dull practice swords. Jon watched the activity with an untrained eye, marveling at the speed and accuracy of some of the boys and the clumsy swings of others. Jon was not sure if the boys were doing it correctly, as he had never held a sword before let alone used one, but he could appreciate the work they were putting in just the same. 

Jon watched the boys practice until the bell rang, calling them inside. As the boys ended their practice Jon too, retired indoors. As he was walking through the palace hallways his stomach growled, reminding him that he had skipped lunch in the meeting that morning. To appease his hunger, Jon made his way to the kitchen where he picked up a couple rolls and an apple. Not knowing where Jua was he took his food and wandered around the castle, turning down random hallways, not going anywhere in particular.

By the time he had finished his meal he found himself to be in a corridor with doors running along either side. The space resembled the hallway outside of his own room and so he guessed that he was in a wing of the castle where people slept. As if to prove him correct, a door to his right swung open with a creak. Jonathan turned to look towards the room just as a tall man with dark hair in a brightly colored cloak exited the room. Remembering his manners Jon nodded his head at the man in greeting.

"Why hello young sir. I do not believe we have met before," the man addressed him.

"My name is Jonathan."

"And I am Duke Roger. Would you, by any chance, be the young man that came last night and is Their Majesties' son?"

"Umm, yes," Jon answered after only a slight pause.

The Duke's face broke into a grin. "Jonathan! It is so wonderful to have you back with us again. I am you're cousin, the Duke of Conté. How we have all missed you!" Roger held out his arms to his younger cousin who tentatively embraced him in return.

"What happened to you?" he asked Jon, then in answer to his own question said, "Do you know what? Never mind that right now. I'm sure you are very tired after all of the excitement and probably are not in the frame of mind to answer such serious questions. Why don't we go someplace and talk, shall we? We have a lot of catching up to do. I haven't seen you since you were but a child, which was, Gods, about fifteen years ago, was it not? My, we have lost so much time!"

Jonathan could not help but like this man, Roger seemed genuinely excited about his return, and he allowed himself to be led down the hall by his cousin who had his arm over Jon's shoulder. As they walked Jon answered his cousin's questions, sometimes in detail, such as questions concerning the house he lived in, and others evasively, like how he and "Anna" came to be friends. As time went on though, he began to pay less attention to the conversation as he felt something tickling at the edge of his mind. Wondering if this could possibly be what Mistress Cooper was talking about when she mentioned someone looking into his thoughts he threw up his mental barriers, just as she had taught him.

One of the first important things she had taught him was how to protect his mind from intruding Mages. She told him that as a thief he may get into trouble someday and be interrogated, verbally and mentally. She warned him that if someone looked into his mind, they would be able to learn things that Jonathan did not want them to learn.

As he put up the barriers he tried to recall any information about the heir to the throne that he could, specifically any magical training. He thought he remembered hearing that Duke Roger was a powerful mage, but he could have been mistaken.

When the pair reached the doors leading out to the garden, Jua walked in, interrupting the discussion. The two stopped and Jon started to introduce them, but Jua interrupted him.

"We've met earlier this morning," she said with a smile in the Duke's direction. "Listen, Jon, if you aren't busy, your parents want us to join them at their table tonight So, we should probably get ready to go," she suggested.

Startled, Jon looked out the window next to the door. He was surprised to find the sky was getting dark. He had not realized how long he had been walking around with his newly rediscovered cousin. Jon looked towards Roger who nodded in consent.

"Run along with Miss Weaver, Jonathan. I too, need to get ready for dinner this evening. Hopefully I will see you there." He embraced his younger cousin before turning to Jua. "And you, too, of course, milady," he said as he pressed his lips to her hand. He then turned and walked away from the two, back in the direction he and Jon had come from.

~*~

Jon dipped his fingers in the bowl of water offered to him, careful not to splash the server, as he looked around the room. The space was large, and many people where seated all around the room. He sat at the table in the front; the King and Queen were at the head of the table. Jua was seated across from him and Duke Roger was at his left. The King rose, giving a blessing for the meal.

"So mote it be," Jon said in unison with the others present. The pages that were serving the meal then came out, carrying trays of foods for the dinners to eat. A plate was placed in front of him and he murmured his thanks. 

A familiar voice replied with, "You are quite welcome, your Highness." Jon looked up as Gary winked and walked away. A smile crept up on his face as he took a bite of the meal. It was better than the breakfast that morning, and he enjoyed it very much. When the meal was finished, Jua and Jon went and talked to the King and Queen for a couple hours before retiring to their own rooms for the night.

~*~

Over the next few days Jon and Jua saw little of each other. Jon spent most of his days in with King Roald, Queen Lianne and Duke Gareth discussing plans for the banquet and his years as a page and squire. Jua split her days between talking with Duke Roger in the library or the gardens and traveling in and out of town.

The days were a blur to Jon, he spent much of the meetings daydreaming while the adults talked and planned. All he knew was that in a few days time there would be a banquet, re-introducing him to the people and announcing that he would again be the heir. A day or two following the banquet was when he was to begin a rigorous course of education and physical training so that he could become a knight one day. His daydreams were only interrupted with the arrival of meals and when someone would ask him questions. Such as his opinion of what he thought the entertainment should be at the feast. Eventually it was decided on a compromise of short plays and musical performances.

After the meetings he would watch the pages and squires spar or go and spend time talking with Roger or his friends in the palace, Alan, Gary and Raoul. When he was with the three they kindly offered to start showing him how to use a staff, so that he might not be quite so far behind when he began his training. The main thing that Jon learned in these lessons was that staff training was much harder than it looked and that Alan could hit very hard for such a small boy.

After practice with his friends or discussions with his cousin, Jon would go to dinner with the monarchs and then drag himself to bed where he would instantly fall asleep.

This routine continued up until the week before the banquet, when almost all of his time was spent in getting final arrangements ready. Most of the final preparations involved making him presentable.

~*~

"Hold still now. If you move I may cut it too short, and you wouldn't like that, would you?" the pleasant lady said as she trimmed Jon's hair. His hair had gotten too long and unkempt for the likes of the King, who preferred a shorter haircut. Jon listened to the plump woman chatter about court gossip as she cut the hair above his ears. He was careful not to move. He had learned from talking with members of the rogue who had made George mad; that getting one's ears cut off was a very painful experience, and one that Jon did not want to have. When the woman finished cutting his hair she ran a brush over it a couple of times to smooth it out.

After getting his hair cut he followed the directions he had received that morning and went to get fit at the palace tailor's for a new outfit for the celebration. By the time that Jon was finished with the fitting he had been poked with pins four times, due to his not "being able to stand still if the Goddess herself asked him too!" Or so the tailor said. He exited the tailor's room quickly, rubbing the sore spots on his limbs where the pins had pricked into his flesh. He headed in the direction of his rooms, intending to take a nap before going to dinner later that evening.

Just before he reached the door to his room he remembered that he was to go to his etiquette lessons once his was finished with the fittings. Jonathan sighed as he turned to go to the classroom. _Just once, I wish I could sleep whenever I was tired, like I used to be able to do._

~*~

The etiquette class was just as dull and uneventful as the other activities of the day. Lianne was convinced that he should learn all that he could about being a royal before the banquette so as to give off the right impression and not embarrass himself. When he had talked to Jua for a few minutes the night before she thought, no matter how many times he told her otherwise, that they wanted him to learn etiquette so as not to make the royal family look foolish, and not so that the people would be more willing to accept the prince, as they claimed.

After hours of learning the proper way to bow and many mental complaints from Jonathan, he was finally free to go, with the instructions to come back the next day and to practice his bows that night. Jon ran quickly to his room, trying his hardest not to think of anything, lest he remember some other chore he had to do to get ready. When he was safely in his room with the door shut and locked behind him he heaved a contented sigh of relief. _Finally, some private time alone. Thank the gods. _He turned around and yelped when he found Jua sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Running from something?" she questioned.

"No," he replied defensively. She nodded as he sat down on the bed next to her. 

"What happened with you today?" Jua asked as he started to take off his shoes.

He shrugged. "I got my hair cut," he told her as he pulled his right boot off and flung it across the room.

"Looks good," she said as she ruffled his now shorter hair.

"Thanks. I also got fitted for new royal clothing for the banquet. They shouldn't use pins when they do that, it's painful." The sound of her giggles were her only response and so he continued, telling her how his first behavior lesson went. "I don't think I'm going to get this princely thing down by time the banquet comes," he complained, hiding his face in his hands.

Jua patted his shoulder comfortingly, "Don't worry Jon. All you have to do is three simple things and I know you can do them. One, be polite. Just remember your 'pleases and thank-yous' and you'll be fine. Two, act spoiled. Just walk around like everything at the party is for you, which, actually, it is. And finally, number three, be stuck up. Just walk around with an I-own-this-room-and-you-all-owe-me-everything-because-I-am-the-best-thing-that-has-ever-happened-to-humankind look on your face. Like this," Jua demonstrated, giving him the most stuck-up look that she could manage. He laughed at her before she slapped his shoulder playfully. "Now you try."

He did, sending her into hysterics. "Perfect, just like that. Now, show me what you are going to do, all of it." Jon stood up at her request.

"My dear Lady," he said, bowing to Jua, "may I _please_ have this dance?"

"Why of course, good sir," Jua replied in her most lady like voice.

"Why _thank you_ my dear." The two waltz around the room, or tried to, as neither knew how to waltz. As they danced, they made polite conversation, such as one would find at a ball.

"Isn't this a lovely celebration," Jua commented, voice oozing exaggerated sweetness.

"Why yes, it is." He paused, and as an after thought added, "And it's all for _me_." The two laughed as he put on his 'stuck-up' face. The two continued to dance to imagined music. Jokingly Jon dipped her, but unfortunately, the movement, coupled with their laughter, caused them to fall to the ground. This made them laugh even harder.

Once they caught their breath, Jon stood and helped Jua to her feet. Jua leaned forward and kissed his cheek, "Thank you for the dance, Your Highness," she said, her eyelashes brushing against his skin. "I had a lovely time." She walked to the door, but stopped in the opening and turned to face Jon.

"See you later, and don't worry, you'll have the spoiled stuck-up prince thing down in no time." He threw a pillow at her just as she disappeared out the door, laughing all the way.

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A/n: and there you have it, chapter twelve. Now, all I need to do is write chapter thirteen… and all the other chapters after that. ::sigh:: oh well, only 35 (school) days until I'm out for summer break and can write all day!

Hope you enjoyed that chapter, kinda cute and fluffy I thought, compared to my other chapters with all the crying. For those of you who want lost of kissing, hang in there, but at the moment, all that works for the story are butterfly kisses. 

Enjoy!

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Thank you notes:

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Keziah: you are very right, we should hold an exorcism. Not the _rulebook!_ I bet that thing would hurt to get hit with… so many rules… don't worry, after a while he gets used to it. She agrees with you and is considering protesting to get waffles and ice cream. Haha, NEVER! Zero may be nice for you, but not for me. Nope nope, I need to have my fun. 

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Kelyn: why thank you, hope all future chapters are just as good.

Devilkitti8: not sure what you mean by "sexy kinda" but yeah, it does sound kind of harsh. Oh well. And don't feel bad for him, he eventually gets used to it. It's in his blood after all.

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Everyone who reviewed: thank you so very much, your reviews seriously make my day *hugs* 


	13. chapter thirteen

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On the Streets

by jilla kala

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a/n: As always, sorry for the slow updating, school is almost out, less then 16 school days to go, and until then I am, as always, quite busy and once again, real life (as unpleasant as it is) has gotten in the way of my writing. So, again, my apologies, and here is a longer chapter (another reason it took so long to get up.) oh and (words) are not author's notes, they are parts of the story. 

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disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates, Andrea, and umm… that's it so far…

Chapter Thirteen

The day of the banquet was, if possible, the most hectic day since his arrival yet. Jon had spent the morning in last minute adjustments to his clothes and in final meetings with his etiquette teacher and his parents for any previously forgotten instructions. He also had to go through a rehearsal run with his etiquette teacher to make sure he knew what to do. The rest of the day was spent getting ready in his room and doing meditations and exercises in order to relax and use up his nervous energy. 

When the time arrived when he should go and get Jua before heading down to dinner he had only calmed down a little. The knock on her door was rewarded quickly by Jua flinging it open and pulling him inside.

"Oh thank the gods you're here, Jon!"

Panic flashed through is mind at the thought that someone had hurt her popped unbidden into his mind. "What happened to you?" he asked, fear evident in his voice.

"Nothing happened, I just can't tie my corset on right and I sent the maid who was supposed to help me away and now I'm going to be late. Unless you hurry up and tie it for me. Tight."

He sighed in relief. That was his Jua, always scaring him out of his mind over some silly thing. He had an idea that she knew and did it on purpose, it would appeal to her sadistic side afterall. Obligingly he went over to her and took the offered ties out of her hands and began to lace the corset up. When she sucked in a sharp breath he automatically loosened his grip.

"Did I hurt you?"

"My insides are being squeezed like a sponge, of course it hurts, but keep going, I can take it. Just TIE!"

He nodded, and began to tie the laces again. Soon they were done and he handed her the dress, which was draped over a chair. She pulled it on over her head, careful not to rip any of the seams, and then turned for him to lace the dress up.

_Good thing she already did her hair_ Jon thought as she locked the door on their way out. The two ran quickly down the hall and the stairs until the reached the door to the dinning room. While they were trying to get their breathing under control, they straightened out their clothing so they didn't look like they had been running.

When they pushed the door open they were greeted by the site of over a hundred people sitting at dozens of tables set about the large banquet hall. Servers were waiting up against the wall holding little bowls of water to wash the guests' fingers. At the table in the front of the room were four empty chairs that they knew to be for the two of them and the King and Queen. Happy that they were not late, the two walked to their chairs and took their seats opposite each other at the table.

A few minutes later the monarchs entered the room. When they walked in everyone in attendance rose to their feet until the King motioned them all to again be seated. He stood at the head of his table and spoke the before meal prayer, thanking the gods for the food and praying for the people who were unable to be present that night, that they had enough food to eat. As soon as the prayer was finished with a "so mote it be," from the guests, the servers brought over the bowls for them to dip their fingers in. While the servers went back to the kitchen to get the first course, Jon, thinking back over his etiquette lessons, spread his napkin out over his lap. Jua did the same thing knowing that she would spill something on the dark silk of the dress the Queen had let her borrow for the occasion if she didn't.

The first course was brought out a few moments later and dinner progressed like any other, with people talking amongst themselves while they ate. Minstrels were set up in a corner of the room, singing ballads for entertainment. When the main courses were finished, servers brought out desserts. The delicious tarts were just what Jua's stomach had been waiting for since she had arrived. 

Towards the end of dessert the King stood up, and as was customary, everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and stood too. Roald smiled and motioned them all to be seated once more.

"Good evening. I want to start off by saying that I am very grateful to you all for coming. As many of you know, almost sixteen years my son, Prince Jonathan, was taken from my wife and I. After many long years of searching we had given up hope that he would be found.

"A few weeks ago, Squires Gareth and Raoul and Page Alan went missing for about a day. When they returned, they brought with them two guests."

The King motioned to Jua and Jon as he continued, "The two people he brought with them are our guests of honor this evening.

"When the three boys returned, they brought with them the missing Prince, who had been living in the city, unknown to anyone for who he truly was, including himself, for over a year. Tonight, I would like to formally re-introduce to you all, my son and the newly reinstated heir to the throne, Prince Jonathan of Conté."

The room went dead silent while the news sunk in for those people who had not previously known. Then the guests broke into loud applause. The King and Queen beamed with pride as they asked their son to stand up so everyone could see him. Jon blushed as the applause and cheering grew louder. The King motioned them to be silent and turned to Jon,

"Would you say a few words to them? I'm sure they would love to hear from you."

"What… what do I say?"

"Whatever comes to mind about your position here," the King told him gently, "Go on."

"Uh, hell-hello every-one," he stuttered out, unsure of what to say or do, "I just want to say that, uh, I am very new to this whole, nobility business, but I am, uh, going to try my hardest to be the Prince you all want me to be. I just ask that you be patient with me because I'm trying to do a good job. Thank you." When he had finished speaking he quickly sat down. He felt someone kick his leg lightly and he looked up from his plate where he had been staring so as to avoid the looks on the faces of the others present. Jus gave him a reassuring smile as she clapped along with the rest of the guests.

"You did good, Highness," she mouthed. He smiled back, grateful that she was there.

"Lords, Ladies and other good people, I believe it is now time to retire to the ballroom for a night of dancing and entertainment in celebration of this wonderful time," the King said.

Almost in perfect unison the people sitting around the room rose to their feet and followed their Monarchs and Jon and Jua out of the room.

~*~  


The sound of music was already permeating the ballroom when Jon and the others entered. The musicians were set up in a corner of the room just left of the stage that had been erected for the evening's performances. On one side of the room tables were set up to serve light snacks and drinks. That was where Jon immediately headed, his tongue and mouth had dried sometime during the brief speech and it was very important to him that he get it taken care of. Jua followed him over as other people started to file into the room. Some people went to the refreshment table, though not many as they had just come from a delicious meal, (which Jua would readily attest to) others went out onto the floor to dance while still others took to the edges of the room to mingle.

Jua leaned up against the edge of the table sipping her glass of fruit juice and watched the dancing couples while she waited for Jon to finish gulping down his drink.

"I never thought I would be this nervous about what people thought of me," he finally said while wiping the punch off of his mouth with his hand.

"Don't worry what they think. They'll love you. Trust me, Jon. Besides, I've seen your prince act, and you'll fool them easily into believing you are a nice, cultured, wonderful young man, because even though it will take a lot of hard acting on your part, I have faith you can do it," she reassured him with a playful grin to let him know she was joking.

"Just for that mean little poke at me, you get the honor of having the first dance of the night with me, as if I mess up and step on anyone's feet, it will probably be my first partner."

"Alright, O great Highness, lead the way," she said as she took his hand and led him out into the crowd of dancers.

"I thought I was leading."

"You get to lead while we dance, I get to lead while we walk."

"Oh."

"Good. Now dance with me."

She draped one arm over his shoulder and with the other she took his hand. He in turn put his free hand on her waist and began to twirl her around the dance floor. The two were silent as they danced, as Jua was too busy watching and following his feet, (because she did not know how to dance) to hold any conversation. 

When the song was over Jon released her. She grinned at him before curtsying and said, "Well, my Lord, not as bad as I expected from a street brat."

He laughed and playfully pushed her away, "Go annoy someone else, Miss 'Weaver.'" Shaking her head at him playfully she moved off to go and find the other boys to get a dance from each of them. Jon, too, went off to find another girl to dance with as he had been told many a time before hand that he should dance with many different people. 

~*~

After a few hours of dancing with lots of random ladies whose names he couldn't even remember, Jon's feet were in pain and he was decidedly ready to get out of there. Unfortunately, the night was barely half over, there was still more dancing and a play and even more dancing to get through before the evening was complete. He sat down on a window seat off in a corner where hopefully he wouldn't be spotted. He took his shoes off and began rubbing his feet, sighing contentedly. It was only seconds before Alan sunk down onto the seat next to him.

"Wanting to get away from all of the fawning ladies?" Alan asked. Jon nodded, still rubbing his aching feet. "Yeah, me too. I really dislike parties, which is why I have been hiding out all night. Raoul should be hiding somewhere too."

"No, I saw Jua drag him out to dance with her a few minutes ago. He didn't look too happy about it. But that's Jua, she likes to torture people when she can."

"What about me?" Jua asked as she plopped down on the seat on the other side of Jon, Raoul taking a seat on the floor in front of them.

"You like to torture people."

"That I do."

"Where's Gary?"

"I'm right here."

"How do you people sneak up on us like that?" Alan demanded.

"Magic."

"Jua, you don't have the Gift, I do."

"Alan, the Gift and my magic aren't the same thing. I have a _secret_ kind of magic."

"Jua, stop teasing people, the last time you tried to convince someone you were magic you made that kid cry. Haven't you learned your lesson about lying yet?"

"Never, Jon, never."

"I can't believe this night is only half over," Jon complained.

"I know, how long can one celebration last?" Raoul added.

"Pretty long. But it's not fun if it's this formal and I can't breath because my corset is on too tight."

"Do you think anyone would notice if we slipped out right now?"

"Probably not, Raoul, but where would we go?"

"Well, Gary, if you guys care to follow me, I know a place where we can go," Jua offered as she stood up. Without waiting to see who followed her, she walked out onto one of the balconies off of the ballroom. When the others got outside she was testing the strength of the railing around the balcony.

"Jua, what are you doing?" Gary asked carefully.

"Well," Jua said as she pulled herself up onto the rail, "I'm going to climb down as far as I can get and then I am going to jump down so you four can… uh oh…" Jua's sentence trailed off as she lost her balance while trying to turn around to climb down. She grabbed the bar just in time before she crashed off into the gardens.  
"Jua!" Jon cried out.

"Wait, I'm alright, this is pretty much what my plan consisted of actually, although, minus the almost falling." She let go and bent her knees as she landed, although she still fell over backwards once she was on the ground.

"She doesn't have the best balance," Jon explained as he followed her over, although he landed correctly. The others came down after them, first Gary then Alan and finally Raoul. When all of them were on the ground Alan asked Jua were they were going.

"Somewhere fun, where we can celebrate ourselves," was the only answer she gave.

~*~

The Dancing Dove was full and rowdy when they walked in. One of the prostitutes, a girl named Andrea, came up to Jua and Jon, giving them each a big hug.

"Andrea! I need some clothes; can you get me some? This dress is so uncomfortable and I can barely breath."

"Of course, hold on a couple of moments and I'll be right back."

"Thank you. Now," Jua turned to the others, "we can celebrate here, there's food and drink, _much _better drink, and we don't have to be formal."

"Good, now, excuse me, I'll be at the bar, after that boring party I can use a drink." Raoul turned and went over to the bar and took a seat. The others took a seat at a table in the middle of the room, a waitress came over and Jon ordered them some drinks. Soon after the waitress left Andrea came back carrying one of her dresses for Jua.

"Oh thank you so very much, Andrea! Come help me get this dress off will you? This corset is about to squeeze me in half."

While the two girls went off to rid Jua of the Queen's dress the waitress brought over the drinks for the three siting around the table. Gary and Jon each took a mug of ale while Alan took his customary lemonade. The three made small talk while they waited for Jua to come back. Raoul joined them with his own drink by the time Jua came back.

"Where'd Andy go?" Jon inquired while Jua took a large swig of her drink.

"On the way back she got a request and so is off earning a little extra money."

"Oh."

"Come now you four, we came here to have a celebration, not to sit around here like a bunch of old men, too tired and creaky to do much of anything." She swallowed down the rest of her drink before waving the barmaid over again. "Bring us another round, please. Oh, and could you tell the fiddler in the corner over there, I can't see who it is, to play something a little more upbeat, we're having a celebration."

"Of course."

By the time the next set of drinks arrived the fiddler had started playing more lively music and other couples had gotten up and started dancing.

The group alternately danced and drank for a few hours, no more than a couple at the table drinking at a time. Gary started to get pretty close to Andrea, who had come over to join them not too long after Jua came back.

~*~

After a few hours, when it was only a couple more until the sun would rise, and everyone (with the exception of Alan, who stuck to his lemonade and Andrea who only had a couple of drinks) had had more than their fair share of drinks, Andrea suggested that instead of going back to the palace they just get rooms, as they could have them for free as George's good friends.

After only a brief discussion, which was quickly ended after Raoul fell out of his chair and lay on the floor laughing until Gary pulled him to his feet where he staggered about, they decided that it would be a good idea to get rooms.

Alan, claiming a need for privacy, got his own room, while Gary and Raoul took one and Jon and Jua took another. The group stumbled up the stairs together when Andrea came to tell them where the rooms were. Alan helped Gary and Raoul to their room before going into his and locking the door behind him. Raoul passed out as soon as he hit the bed and Gary did the same only seconds after crawling into his bed, neither even had time to take off their shoes.

Meanwhile, in Jon and Jua's room, both of the occupants were still conscious. Jon had had less to drink and so was not quite as out of it as Jua. She sat on the bed while he knelt down in front of her and took of her shoes. She ran her fingers through his hair as he worked to pull them off.

"Jon?"

"Mmhmm?"

"Why are you down on the floor?"

"I'm taking your shoes off so you can go to bed."

"Why?" He ignored the question, as he knew from past experiences with a drunken Jua that that line of questioning could on forever. He stood up and pulled her to her feet.

"Jua, be a good girl now and take off your dress so you can go to sleep."

"But then I'll be naked."

"You have other clothing on underneath it, you'll be fine."

"Oh." She fumbled at the strings and finally Jon had to help her, although he was having almost as much trouble as she was with the laces as he was also drunk. Jua put her hand over his to make him stop what he was doing. He looked up at her questioningly, although it took a moment for him to make sense of the blurry double image he saw before him. Instead of an answer she pressed her lips up against his for a moment, but pulled back ere he even had a chance to taste her alcohol laced breath.

"Jon?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you just kiss me? Would you do it again?" He didn't even have a chance to decide whether or not he was going to do as she asked, or even if he wanted to, before she passed out onto the bed. Jon shook his head at the fact that everyone was always extra friendly (and confused as shown with her making the first move and thinking he did it) when drunk and set to work finishing pulling her out of her dress and covering her up on the bed. Then he too undressed and climbed into the bed, falling quickly into unconsciousness. Whether this unconsciousness was from the alcohol or an honest sleep, he didn't know. The last thought on his mind was a brief question of whether or not he would have kissed her back.

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a/n: and there you have it, an extra long chapter thirteen. Jon has been reintroduced and Jua and he have had their first kiss, something I know lots of people (though whether those people are still reading or not, I dunno) have been wanting for awhile. I hope this was worth the wait. And please, leave a review, even if it is just to say, "I read it, good job." If you want to tell me you didn't like it, please leave more details as to why so that I can try and do a better job next time. Thank you so very much to those people who have reviewed and to those who will, reviews are what keep me posting. Much love to all.

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Special author's note: I know sometimes conversations where it does not say "he said/she said/it said" can get confusing, especially when there is more than one person, so even though I tried to incorporate hints as to who has said what, for those who may have missed it (prolly due to my not doing a good enough job with the hints) here is a map of who said what, just trying to be overly helpful to people *helpful person smile*

"You like to torture people." **Jon**

"That I do." **Jua**

"Where's Gary?" **Jon**

"I'm right here**." Gary**

"How do you people sneak up on us like that?" **Alan** demanded.

"Magic." **Jua**

"Jua, you don't have the Gift, I do." **Alan**

"Alan, the Gift and my magic aren't the same thing. I have a _secret_ kind of magic." **Jua**

"Jua, stop teasing people, the last time you tried to convince someone you were magic you made that kid cry. Haven't you learned your lesson about lying yet?" **Jon**

"Never, Jon, never." **Jua**

"I can't believe this night is only half over," **Jon** complained.

"I know, how long can one celebration last?" **Raoul** added.

"Pretty long. But it's not fun if it's this formal and I can't breath because my corset is on too tight." **Jua**

"Do you think anyone would notice if we slipped out right now?" **Raoul**

"Probably not, Raoul, but where would we go?" **Gary**

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Thank you notes:

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Keziah: why thank you for your confidence in my writing abilities and for your flattering comments, its always nice to hear people say good things about you, self-esteem boost and all. Yay for fluff! It has taken awhile but yes, I am finally incorporating some j/j into the story (and yes, I am planning on it being j/j, although that wasn't my original idea) but it isn't going to be all smooth and stuff. Don't worry, no A/J, jon doesn't even know she's a she. Lol, we should start a picket line, first the castle then the world! Thanks very much for your reviews; it means a lot that you keep reviewing.

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MogsyCat: well, my apologies (again) for not telling you, and so I am going to make sure I tell you this time. It was nice talking to you before. Thanks for your review, hope you enjoyed the chapters :)

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Everyone who reviewed: thank you so very much, your reviews seriously make my day *hugs* 


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